The Indian deputy high commissioner was summoned by the Foreign Office (FO) on Friday to express concern over the recent acquittal of Swami Aseemanand in the Ajmer Sharif blast case, said a statement released by the FO.

Aseemanand is also accused of masterminding the deadly 2007 Samjhota Express bombing,

The Indian envoy was called in by the director general (South Asia & SAARC).

“Swami Aseemanand had publicly confessed that he was the 'mastermind' of Samjhota Express terrorist attack of February 2007,” said the statement released by the office of FO spokesperson.

The statement further added that Pakistan “expects India to take steps to bring to justice all those involved in the heinous act of Samjhota Express terrorist attack”.

The Samjhota Express blast, in 2007 had left 68 dead and 100 injured — most of them Pakistanis.

Earlier this week, an Indian court handed down a rare guilty verdict against three Hindu radicals over the Ajmer Sharif shrine bombing, but cleared the alleged mastermind of the attack initially blamed on Islamist groups.

Aseemanand, the alleged ringleader behind the religiously motivated attack, was among seven Hindu radicals acquitted after prosecutors failed to prove their guilt.

He remains in prison pending trial over his role in two separate bomb attacks.