"The Special Operations Group on Friday nabbed one Saeed Mota in an encounter near the Armapur canal. Saeed is a suspect in the Ajmer blasts of 2006. Based on some newspaper reports, which mentioned his alleged involvement in the blasts, we grilled him only to learn that he was in Ajmer during that period. We have also informed the Ajmer police about this." Senior Superintendent of Police, Kanpur, A K Singh said on Friday.
More members of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak may have been involved in planning the Ajmer blast in October 2007, according to sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation.Devender Gupta, who was arrested in connection with the Ajmer blast and the Mecca Masjid blast, has reportedly revealed that RSS members Varshney and Ashok Berry were also involved in planning the blast.The duo had allegedly provided refuge in Lucknow to the suspects who carried out the Ajmer blast.
The Central Bureau of Investigation made a startling revelation on Saturday regarding the direct involvement of two RSS men in the Ajmer blasts. The crime against the duo -- Ashol Varshney and Ashok Berry -- was that they had harboured Devender Gupta, one of the key accused in the Ajmer blasts case.
A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary, accused in Ajmer blast case, moved a Delhi court seeking registration of an FIR against the Central Bureau of Investigation and Tehelka magazine for making public right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand's confessional statement.
The 2007 Ajmer Shariff blast was carried out to deter Hindus from going to the famous shrine and the act was carried out by a group of extremists whose members belonged to both majority and minority communities, Swami Aseemanand, an accused in the case has said in his confessional statement.
The Central Bureau of Investigation recently named former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist Sunil Joshi as an accused in the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blast cases. Joshi was shot dead by three unknown assailants on December 29, 2007.Joshi and his accomplices believed that the minority community will be blamed for the blast, and would face massive police crackdown as a consequence.The plan was reportedly finalised by group in Madhya Pradesh.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is all set to bring the accused of Ajmer blast, Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, to Hyderabad in connection with Mecca Masjid blast in May, 2007.
The National Investigation Agency on Thursday arrested a suspected right-wing terrorist Mafat Lal from Vadodara, Gujarat in connection with its probe in 2007 Ajmer blasts, the second person to be nabbed in the case this week.
Judge Dinesh Gupta let off the right-wing activist and six others, giving them "benefit of doubt".
On March 8, the court had convicted Patel, Gupta and Joshi in the case while acquitting others including Swami Aseemanand.
The Rajasthan police have taken into custody a man from Chanda village here for interrogation in connection with the October 11 bomb blast at the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer, the police said.
The Rajasthan police is interrogating some suspects, including pilgrims of Bangladeshi origin, in connection with the blast at the revered Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti at Ajmer where Friday prayers will go ahead as scheduled. Some suspects are being interrogated since Thursday night but no arrests have been made in connection with the blast which claimed two lives and left 17 injured, a senior official said.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha on Tuesday vehemently denied the charges against some of its top functionaries in the Ajmer dargah blast case, saying 'tirade by political leaders and investigators indicated that the accusations were politically motivated.'
Members of the RSS, VHP and BJP were also part of the crowd welcoming Bhavesh Patel.
Badiul Hassan, 80, was brought from Ajmer on Saturday and was undergoing treatment at Swai Mansingh Hospital in Jaipur. He died late Sunday night, police said on Monday.
Hindu right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand, an accused in several terror cases, has moved a court seeking to withdraw his application to turn a witness in the Ajmer Dargah blast case even as the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad on Friday said it is planning to file a chargesheet against him on April 8.
Rajasthan Anti Terrorist Squared has arrested one more person from Gujarat in connection with the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast case following interrogation of Swami Aseemanand whose custody was on Saturday extended till February 11.
Kumar, who had denied any involvement in any of these acts of terror, figures in the chargesheet prepared by the CBI in connection with the October 2007 blasts. He has been charged with conspiracy under Section 120(b) of Indian Penal Code.
The Rajasthan government claimed that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Indresh Kumar, whose name figures in the chargesheet in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case, provided "guidelines" on how to go about carrying out the explosion.
"Chandrashekhar, who is suspected to be a key member of the terror module involved in the blast in which three persons were killed, was arrested on Friday from Shajapur," ATS sources said in Jaipur on Saturday.
Along with Aseemanand, Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Chandrashekher Leve, Bharat Mohan Rateshwar, Jarshad Bhjai and Mukesh Wasani have been charged under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC.
Police teams from both Rajasthan and Hyderabad confirmed on Saturday that the same operatives carried out both the Mecca Masjid and the Hyderabad blasts. The link has been established in the form of a sim card, found in one of the bags outside the blast site, which is reportedly in the name of one Babu Lal Yadav. A sim card found at the blast site in Mecca Masjid was also in the name of Babu Lal Yadav.
Despite the shrine being equipped with close circuit televisions, Additional Director General of Police A K Jain said the police will not have the benefit of visuals as no recording facility was available from the CCTVs.
Syed Salim was at the Ajmer dargah on October 11,2007, like a lot of other pious Muslims to offer his prayers, when a bomb ripped through the shrine. However, little did he know that he would be tagged as the bomber after his death.
Devendra Gupta, arrested in connection with the 2007 Ajmer Dargah bomb blast and suspected to have links with a Hindu militant outfit, filed a revision petition in an Ajmer court on Thursday against the proposed narco and brain mapping tests on him by Rajasthan ATS.
Additional sessions judge MG Deshpande on Tuesday acquitted Solanki and Gohil of all charges. The detailed order became available on Wednesday.
The Rajasthan government on Friday constituted a Special Investigating Team to probe the terror attack on Khwaja Mohiuddin Chisti's dargah at Ajmer which had killed three persons and injured many more on Thursday. Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said that the SIT will interact with central security agencies to find out which organisation had masterminded Thursday's blast. The blast had aimed at disturbing the communal harmony in the city, Gupta said.
The agency said that it could not find any 'strong evidence' against Indresh Kumar, Sadhvi Pragya, Rajendra and Ramesh alias Prince.
An anti-cow slaughter activist has been arrested from Gujarat by the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorist Squad for his alleged involvement in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast in which three persons were killed. This is the fifth arrest in connection with the case. Mukesh Vasani, 42, who allegedly planted a bomb on the premises of the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, was taken into custody from Godhra on Wednesday and produced in a court in Ajmer.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad of Rajasthan arrested another suspect in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case who had allegedly played a key role in the conspiracy behind the incident in which three persons were killed.
Four of the five accused named in the Ajmer Dargah blast chargesheet filed by the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorist Squad have links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an ATS official said.
The investigation in the Ajmer dargah blast case has taken several twits and turns after one of the accused Bhavesh Patel alleged that National Investigation Agency was allowed to probe him inside the Alwar central jail illegally.
The Rajasthan Anti Terror Squad (ATS) has moved an Ajmer court for permission to conduct a narco-analysis test on Devendra Gupta, who was arrested for his alleged role in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast. Gupta is allegedly linked to Hindu outfits.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is hoping that the arrest of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Devender Gupta, who was arrested in connection with the blast in Ajmer Dargah three years ago, might give key answers to the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad that occurred the same year.
Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami, a militant outfit based in Bangladesh, is suspected to be behind the blast at the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Mohiuddin Chisti at Ajmer. Shahid Bilal, based in Karachi, has emerged as a key suspect in the bomb attack that killed three persons and injured 28 others as the modus operandi was similar to that used in the Mecca Masjid blast at Hyderabad in May this year. The banned HuJI may have been supported by Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The CBI on Tuesday said it has not questioned any RSS functionary during its ongoing probe into Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blast cases.
'If there is effective prosecution, only then we will get justice, but first let them (NIA) run the case honestly in court.'
The National Investigation Agency says that with the arrest of Rajendra Chowdhary the probe in the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blasts is almost complete. Vicky Nanjappa reports
A city court in Hyderabad on Friday granted bail to Bharath Mohanlal Rateswar alias Bharat Bhai, an accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, however, his remand will continue in connection with the Ajmer blast case.
A day after seven accused in the Malegaon blasts were released on bail, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha on Thursday demanded similar relief to other right wing accused who have been lodged in jail.