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
The Hyderabad police, which is under fire over the alleged torturing of a youth picked up after last year's Mecca Masjid blast, has once again evoked the ire of the Muslim community by allegedly threatening one of the acquitted persons not to go public with the details of torture.
Sources said that there could be similarities between the explosives used in Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in May this year and Satudrday's explosion.
For Malegaon's Muslims, Rahul Gandhi's remarks were simply one more indication that the party they once supported no longer cares for them, notes Jyoti Punwani.
"I have never seen such heart-rending scenes and wailing and shrikes of the injured. It will haunt me all my life."
Judge Dinesh Gupta let off the right-wing activist and six others, giving them "benefit of doubt".
Five persons, including founder of local terror group Tehreek-Ghalba-e-Islam Viqaruddin Ahmed, were on Tuesday killed in an encounter with the police in Telangana's Warangal district.
The Special Branch of Hyderabad City Police and State Intelligence had submitted their preliminary reports to the government admitting that the police firing on May 18 was indiscriminate and unwarranted.
Swami Aseemanand appears to have become a habitual retractor. After his explosive interview in to the Caravan, the accused in the Samjhauta Express, Hyderabad Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Dargah blasts denied speaking to the magazine.
Realising serious lapses in the process of hearing, a division bench of Andhra Pradesh high court has recalled its order against payment of compensation to Muslim youth of Hyderabad who were illegally detained, tortured and booked by the city police in the aftermath of blast in Mecca Masjid more than six years ago.
In a success for the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Mecca Masjid blast case, two of the witnesses have identified Lokesh Sharma, who was arrested by the Rajasthan police in April, as the man who had purchased a cellphone from their shop.
"We will decide on appointment of security guards, training of volunteers, increasing the height of the compound wall and setting up metal detectors after holding discussions with religious leaders and police officers.
With the Hyderabad police rounding up several Muslim youth for questioning in connection with last week's twin blasts in Hyderabad, some civil rights groups are up in arms and say witch-hunting will only prove fatal to the probe. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Wearing multiple identities of religious preacher, science student and terror accused, the saffron robed Aseemanand, once known as the most wanted man in India, was the alleged link between the series of three bombings that ripped through India in 2007.
There are three angles of investigations being taken by the Intelligence Bureau and the Hyderabad police in the twin blasts that have killed at least16 people in a busy market in Hyderabad.
Member of the Lok Sabha from Hyderabad and president of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Asaduddin Owaisi on Hindu terrorism and why he thinks Hyderabadi Muslims have been victimised.
The confession of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak Swami Aseemanand about, his involvement in the blasts in Hyderabad's historic Mecca Masjid, Ajmer's Khwaja Moinuddin Dargah and many other places, has surprised his followers and detractors alike.
In shocking revelations, Swami Aseemanand claims though RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was not directly involved with the terror strikes, he was aware that such attacks were being planned. Vicky Nanjappa finds out more
Will the NIA 'get conviction' in Mecca Masjid blast, Ajmer Dargha blast and Malegaon blasts cases, he asked.
Every time an act of terror is committed in Hyderabad, suspicion falls on Shahid, alias Bilal alias Abdul Rehman.
After the lifting of all the 1,667 cases booked against the participants of agitations in support and against the formation of a separate Telangana state, the Andhra Pradesh government was now seriously considering the demand for withdrawing the cases booked against the Muslim youth in Hyderabad and other places in the state.
In fact news of his death started trickling in a few days after the twin blasts in Hyderabad. But the Intelligence Bureau said that it was a ploy by their counterparts in Pakistan to mislead investigations. While Bilal's death is more or less confirmed now, Indian intelligence agencies feel he was killed due to professional rivalry.
Both the arrested had hideouts in Hyderabad to prepare powerful bombs and provide shelter to the plotters.
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.
Human Rights Watch has slammed the Andhra Pradesh government for the detention and torture of over 100 youths from the Muslim community, who were arrested after a spate of terror attacks in Hyderabad last year.On November 13, the Andhra Pradesh government finally admitted that the innocent youths had been tortured and announced compensation of Rs 30,000 for each of them. It also promised additional financial assistance through government loans.
Communal tension over the disputed temple next to historic Charminar continued for second day in Hyderabad as stray incidents of violence took place soon after the Friday prayers.
Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks for the Governor's address in the state legislative assembly, Dr Reddy said, "The incidents of bomb blasts at Mecca Masjid, Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Eatery in Hyderabad were related to cross-border terrorism. Many innocent lives were lost in these incidents." "Al Qaeda, by clubbing the United States, Israel and India together unnecessarily, is targeting our country without any rhyme or reason," he said.
Police registered a case of trespass against Sania Mirza for filming for an advert in the premises of a mosque.
A Hyderabad court remanded Swami Asimanand, an accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, in eight-day Central Bureau of Investigation custody till December 18.
National Investigating Agency on Monday filed another appeal in a local court in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh seeking the transfer of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Sunil Joshi murder case to a special court in Bhopal. The court has posted the matter for hearing on August 9.
The IB says that Hamza was the man behind the murder of Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya in 2003.
The Andhra Pradesh government has for the first time admitted that suspecting Muslims in Mecca Masjid blast case was a mistake as the terror attack was handiwork of 'Hindu militants'. It has also promised to extend financial assistance to the Muslim youth who were falsely implicated in the case.
Aseemanand, who confessed to being in the know of the Mecca Masjid, Samjhauta, Ajmer and Malegaon blasts, also stated prior to his confession that it was a boy named Abdul Kaleem, who inspired him to make this confession before the magistrate
The National Investigation Agency is likely to question right-wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat member Swami Asimanand for his alleged involvement in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case.He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on November 19 for his alleged involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad that left nine people dead. The Samjhauta train blast left 68 people dead.
The chargesheet in the Samjautha Express blasts case, which was filed recently by the National Investigative Agency, states that two crucial players in the case are still absconding.
It will be interesting to see what the Hyderabad police will now do to secure Shahid aka Bilal, who is allegedly in Bangladesh.
Nayeem alias Sameer was earlier in the custody of Mumbai police and was brought to Hyderabad on a transit warrant.
The CBI arrested Aseemanand on November 19 for his alleged involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in which nine persons were killed. He was earlier living under a fake identity in Haridwar and had also procured fake identity cards.
"They (mosque authorities) have sent a letter to us expressing readiness to withdraw the complaint against her. But we sought certain clarifications from them," said B Reddenna, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Charminar division. He, however, declined to divulge the clarifications sought by the police.
Opposing the CBI's application to further interrogate Asimanand, his advocate J B Chinna Kesava Rao told the XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court that his client had already been interrogated for two days after being arrested by CBI on November 19.
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