All the men involved in the Mumbai terror attack were Pakistani nationals and no locals were involved, arrested militant Ajmal Kasab told Mumbai's Anti Terrorism Squad. However, Kasab said vaguely during his interrogation that some members of a local module helped with logistics.
Interpol has detained Rahil Sheikh, an accused in the July 2006 Mumbai train blasts, at London airport, police sources said on Tuesday.
A Pune court on Friday rejected Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit's plea for an extension of his police custody in the city. Purohit's lawyer Shrikant Shivde told rediff.com that the armyman had been physically and mentally tortured by the ATS, while he was in their custody.
Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan told newsmen in New Delhi that there was no political vendetta by the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad investigating the Malegoan blasts in which sadhavi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit and some others have been picked up for interrogation.
"It has become clear that the ATS is acting in a politically-motivated and unprofessional manner. After going through her (sadhvi Pragya) affidavit, I have to express my shock and outrage, which I am sure all Indians will share," BJP leader L K Advani said during his one-day tour of the poll-bound BJP-ruled Chattisgarh state.
A host of pro-Hindutva outfits, including Abhinav Bharat, organised a meeting in Pune on Sunday to raise money for the accused in the Malegaon blast case.Taking strong exception to the expression 'Hindu terrorism' being used in regard to the suspects booked by the Anti-Terrorism Squad -- Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Col Shrikant Purohit and Dayanand Pandey -- Abhinav Bharat president Himani Savarkar told the gathering that the money collected would be used for the legal battles.
Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit, who was arrested for his role in the Malegaon blast, was produced before a Nashik court on Saturday.The court extended Purohit's police custody till November 18.Public Prosecutor Ajay Misar told the court that Lt Col Purohit had links with the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast and he supplied the RDX used in the blast.
The principal of the Bhonsala Military School in Nashik was on Friday detained by the Anti Terrorism Squad for questioning in the September 29 Malegaon blasts even as prime accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was brought to Mumbai for brain mapping and polygraph tests.
The bullet proof vests, worn by slain Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and two other senior officers while fighting terrorists on November 26 last, belonged to the batch of 110 defective pieces purchased by the police way back in 2002, a litigation filed in Bombay high court has alleged.
The ATS team was sent to probe the blast at Malegaon's Bhikhu Chowk area late Monday night, Joint Commissioner of Police (ATS) Hemant Karkare said.
A proposal to ban the Sanstha is pending with the Maharashtra government since last year, a top ATS officer said on Tuesday.
As the body of the 41-year-old was brought to his residence in South West Delhi's Dwarka area in a flower-decked vehicle, family members, neighbours and well wishers started chanting slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai (Long live Mother India) and M C Sharma Amar Rahe (Long live M C Sharma).
Disposing of the plea on August 1, special judge AK Lahoti, however, noted the contentions raised by the accused are kept open and he is at liberty to point them out at the time of final hearing.
A special court on Tuesday allowed Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra police to subject suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative Mohammed Aslam alias Saleem to scientific tests to find out his role in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case.
Exactly a year after the Malegaon blast shook the powerloom town in Maharashtra leaving seven people dead, one of the surviving victims has revealed that he had alerted the local police about an abandoned scooter, but no action had been taken.
A Mahindra Scorpio car with gelatin sticks was found parked near "Antilia", the multi-storey residence of Ambani, in south Mumbai on February 25.
The Supreme Court today stayed the Bombay High Court order directing the Maharashtra government to place before it the report of Pradhan Committee which probed government's response to 26/11 terror attacks.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad in Maharashtra on Tuesday arrested two more persons in connection with the Thane auditorium blast case earlier this month, taking the number of arrested to four. Vikram Bhave and Santosh Angre were arrested in connection with the blast which injured seven people, a senior ATS officer said.
Two persons have been arrested in Mumbai in connection with the Thane auditorium blast earlier this month that left seven people injured. The two men, who were arrested on Sunday night, are suspected to be part of a right wing organisation, the Anti-Terrorism Squad said on Monday.Seven people were injured in an explosion at the Gadkari Rangayatan auditorium's parking lot before the staging of the play Amhi Pachpute on June 4.
Abdul Samad Bhatkal, a prime suspect in the Pune German Bakery blast, was on Tuesday remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a local court in connection with a 2009 illegal arms seizure case. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, which had arrested Samad from Mangalore, on Tuesday did not seek his custody and told the court that Samad should be sent to judicial custody.
The manner in which the probe on 26/11 attacks and Pune blast suspect Abdul Sammad is progressing, gives one the indication that he is being used just as a bait to reach Yaseen Bhatkal -- Sammad's step-brother -- and the prime accused in the Pune blast. Reports Vicky Nanjappa:
The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad said on Tuesday that Rs 4 lakh was deposited in the account of Mulund explosion accused Wazhul Kamar Khan, a few months before the blasts in the metropolis during 2002-2003.
Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab should not be allowed to approach the Supreme Court and should be hanged publicly, says Kavita Karkare, wife of slain Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare. Reacting to the special court awarding the death sentence to Kasab, Kavita said, "I don't think this is the end of the chapter of 26/11. This is just the beginning. Now we should hang Kasab publicly and we should not give him a chance to go to the Supreme Court".
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 police remand of two arrested terror suspects Abdul Latif Rashid and Riyaz Ali Imtiaz was on Friday extended till April 1 after the Anti-Terrorism Squad sought their custody. The duo was arrested by the ATS on March 13 for allegedly planning to carry out terror attacks in the metropolis. According to the ATS, the duo was in touch with a person in Pakistan addressed as 'uncle', who is suspected to be Abdul Bashir Khan, an absconding accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts.
The revelations came during scientific tests carried out on them.
The Shiv Sena on Monday alleged that the Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was being tortured by the Mumbai police and that she had stopped partaking food for the last eight days.
An accused in the 2008 serial blasts in the national capital was on Monday arrested by the Anti-Terror Squad of the Uttar Pradesh Police from Azamgarh district, a senior officer said.
The Abhinav Bharat President Himani Savarkar on Friday said Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad's contention that the Malegaon blast conspiracy was discussed in her presence by Lt Col Prasad Purohit in April 2008 in Bhopal, is a pack of lies.
Pakistan's demand to hand over Lt Colonel Purohit in connection with the Samjahutha Express blast will turn out to be a damp squib considering the fact that the chargesheet filed by the Mumbai ATS makes no mention of the case.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Tuesday filed a charge sheet against 11 people, including a serving army official and a sadhvi, for the 2007 Malegaon blasts, which killed seven people. Special MCOCA Judge Y D Shinde granted permission to the ATS to file the charge sheet, which was over 4,000 pages, against all the eleven accused.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has alleged that an Indian Army officer linked to the 2007 bombing of the trans-border Samjhauta Express train had hired Pakistan-based militants to carry out the attack.
An armyman, who had served with Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit in Military Intelligence, is likely to be made a prosecution witness in the Malegaon blast case as the Anti Terrorism Squad inquiring into the matter has recorded his statement.
The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has criticised Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for denying a probe in the death of three police officers, including Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, in the Mumbai terror attack.M M Khan, president of Jammat units of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, said there was nothing wrong in Antulay asking for a probe into the police officers' 'suspicious' deaths.
The Antulay controversy refused to die down on Wednesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party continuing its demand for sacking of the minister for his remarks on the circumstances leading to the death of Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare. "The BJP demands that A R Antulay be sacked and the Congress apologise to the nation for this. If Manmohan Singh cannot firmly deal with an erring cabinet minister, to what extent can he be expected to deal firmly against terror,"it said
Union Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay on Wednesday suggested that Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare could have met his end due to his role in the Malegaon blasts investigation. Karkare and two other senior officers of the Mumbai police died on November 26 when Pakistani terrorists attacked Mumbai. Antulay said Karkare was investigating some cases in which there are non-Muslims also.
Dayanand Pandey, arrested in connection with September 29 Malegaon blast case, has alleged that the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has planted obscene material on his laptop seized by them and then released it to the media to tarnish his image before the public.
Trial lawyer Naresh Gehi once took on the Federal Bureau of Investigation when the agency jailed an Indian American because his name and date of birth matched with those of a suspected terrorist. Gehi tenaciously fought the case against the FBI and eventually got him freed.
Were the thugs not visible to the police team in the Qualis's headlights, alerting the policemen to their presence?