The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Monday claimed to have made a major breakthrough in the July 13 triple blasts in Mumbai last year that claimed 27 lives, with the arrest of two of the accused hailing from Bihar.
Thakur, seated in the witness box, got visibly emotional at one point and the proceedings were halted for ten minutes.
Rebutting senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's charge, Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad said on Thursday there was no political pressure on it in handling the Malegaon blast probe nor was there any substance in the charge that accused Purohit was tortured in custody.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Wednesday arrested Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit in connection with the September 29 Malegaon blasts, an ATS official said. Purohit was interrogated two days ago by the ATS in connection with the blasts in Malegaon and was arrested today, Additional Commissioner of Police (ATS) Parambir Singh said. Singh, however, refused to reveal Purohit's role in the blasts.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and another person, arrested for their alleged involvement in the September 29 Malegaon blast, were subjected to narco-analysis tests in Mumbai on Monday.The Sadhvi and Sameer Kulkarni underwent the scientific tests conducted by officials of the Forensic Science Laboratory in a hospital in south Mumbai, Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad officials said.The tests on former army officer Ramesh Upadhyay is likely to be conducted on Wednesday.
S M Mushrif says, in this brief interaction with rediff.com, that he would not allow the issue of Karkare's death to die down unless and until the matter is probed.
Two suspects arrested for allegedly plotting terror strikes on ONCG headquarters and two markets in prime areas in Mumbai had received money from a Pakistani national based in Dubai through a UAE financial firm, says the chargesheet filed by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in a local court.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which arrested Pune blast prime suspect Abdul Samad Bhatkal, is probing the possible nexus between underworld and terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the case.
The Bombay high court ticked off a special MCOCA court conducting trial in the 2006 serial train bomb blasts and the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad for refusing to provide documents relating to the Call Data Records to some of the accused in the case.
Yaseen Bhatkal, a distant relative of Indian Mujhahideen founder Riyaz Bhatkal, has been named the mastermind of the Pune blast by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad. A blast in German bakery, one of the city's most popular eateries, had left 17 people dead and many more injured on February 13. Yaseen hails from the coastal town of Bhatkal in Karnataka and has been involved in terror activities since 1998, say sources in the Intelligence Bureau.
Yasin Bhatkal, believed to be a relative of Indian Mujahideen founder Riyaz Bhatkal, has been identified by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad as one of the main conspirators of the Pune blast, in which 17 people were killed. Indian Mujahideen is suspected to be behind the blast in Pune's upscale Koregaon Park area, an ATS source said. The ATS, which has submitted a preliminary report on investigations into the terror attack -- the first after the terror siege on Mumbai.
Desperate for a breakthrough in the July 13 triple blasts, the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad is now looking to question two recently-arrested alleged Indian Mujahideen operatives.
Fringe elements of the underworld may be involved in the serial blasts that shook Mumbai on Wednesday night and claimed 19 lives. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has started questioning some elements of the underworld and their informers to garner more clues about the case. "A turf war has been going on between the underworld and terror outfits for some time. We believe that the underworld may have carried out blasts to step up the heat on terror networks," said a source
Setting at rest the controversy that slain Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare died because of defective bulletproof jacket, the postmortem report has revealed that he received five bullets in and around his neck.
Kavita Karkare, the wife of former Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, on Wednesday has questioned the state government as to why her husband and two other senior police officials, who were killed on November 26 last year, did not get reinforcements on time.
A Special Investigating Team was formed by the Goa government on Sunday to probe the Margao blast in which two members of a Hindu right-wing organisation, allegedly involved in the explosion, were killed.
Sri Ram Sene chief, Pramod Muthalik, whose outfit was behind the attack on a Mangalore pub. has denied knowing any of the persons wanted for their alleged involvement in Malegaon blast, a senior Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad official said on Monday.
As Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria claimed a breakthrough in the 13/7 Mumbai blasts case on Monday he seems to have ruffled quite a few feathers. Though he junked out reports of a tiff with the special cell of the Delhi police in carrying out the probe, insiders say the arrests of the two Darbhanga operatives were an attempt by the ATS to gain an upper hand in the investigation.
An Enforcement Directorate official, who is an Indian Police Service officer and who once dealt with narcotics offences, has been arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad for allegedy trying to sell heroin in suburban Oshiwara.
Himani Savarkar, President of right-wing group Abhinav Bharat and a kin of freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, was aware of the conspiracy hatched to carry out "activities" in Muslim-dominated Malegaon to avenge "atrocities" against Hindus but she kept mum, police sources said. She has admitted this in a statement given to Pune unit of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, which probed the September 29 blast in the communally-sensitive power loom town, the sources said.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad team, which is probing the Mumbai terror attacks, on Tuesday took transit remand of an accused arrested in connection with the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp in Rampur."An ATS team, which arrived in the state capital on Monday, took Imran Shahzad alias Abu Samad, currently lodged in Lucknow jail, on transit remand to Mumbai," said Additional Director General (Law and Order) Brijlal.
'Regrettably, the UPA government seems to be caving in to pressures from the BJP to adopt a macho, national-chauvinist, to-hell-with-civil-liberties stance to show that it has the will to fight terrorism.'
"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.
Abdul Sammad, who was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad from Mangalore in connection with an arms case and the Pune blast case, was finally released from a Mumbai jail on Sunday. Sammad, who was granted conditional bail by the sessions court almost three weeks ago, had continued to languish in jail as he could not find a guarantor.According to his uncle Muhammad Siddibapa, Sammad will have to appear in court once more and he will return to his home in Bhatkal.
The Bombay High Court has discontinued its monitoring of the investigation into the 2015 murder of communist leader and rationalist writer Govind Pansare, directing the sessions court to expedite the ongoing trial. The decision comes after a report by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) indicated that the investigation has been thoroughly conducted, with only the arrest of two absconding accused remaining. The court has ordered daily hearings for the trial, which has already begun and has seen 28 prosecution witnesses examined as of December 16, 2024.
Criminal lawyer Mubin Solkar has decided to defend Abdul Samad Bhatkal, the prime suspect in the Pune bomb blast, who has been arrested by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in a 2009 arms seizure case.
Seven years after the Mulund bomb blast, one more person suspected to be involved in triggering the explosion was arrested in Mumbai, Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad sources said on Monday.
The National Investigating Agency is unlikely to oppose the bail pleas of the nine accused arrested by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blast case when they come up for hearing this week.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has got a breakthrough in the 13/7 Mumbai blasts case. The ATS team has zeroed in on the thief who stole the bike on which the explosive that triggered the Zaveri Bazaar blast was allegedly planted.
Claiming to have some 'vital' clues in the Pune blast case, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has sought the help of auto rickshaw drivers, asking them to share information about suspicious passengers who might be linked to the terror attack."I have appealed through radio to auto rickshaw drivers, who might have ferried passengers with suspicious behaviour to the eatery or anywhere else on the day of the blast, to share the information with me," said ATS chief.
A Pune court has prohibited the broadcast of CCTV footage of the blast at German Bakery on February 13, to protect witnesses and ensure unhindered investigation.The court issued its directive on an application filed by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, Pune Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh said. The order also applies to the CCTV footage from the five-star hotel adjacent to the site of the blast, he said. The toll due to the Pune blast has risen to 16.
Claiming it has got "very good" leads from the sketch of the suspect behind the July 13 serial blasts in Mumbai, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Wednesday indicated that the suspect hails either from the central or northern part of the country.
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, probing the July 13 serial blasts, is taking the assistance of a foreign firm to enhance quality of the CCTV footages recorded at the three locations, a senior police official said.
The mystery behind the missing bullet-proof jacket of slain Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare took a new turn on Wednesday with a sweeper of a government hospital in Mumbai claiming that he had disposed it off long ago. The statement evoked a sharp reaction from Kavita Karkare, wife of the slain officer, who said, "This theory had cropped up now because the government is under pressure. I have lost all hope of getting fair justice in this case."
A case under Indian Penal Code Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 153A (promoting enmity between groups) as well as under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was registered in Kochi.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a Zilla Parishad school teacher from Latur in Maharashtra and registered a case against four persons after it emerged that a racket was being operated to help NEET students willing to pay money to crack the exam, police said on Monday.
The Maharashtra Anti-terror Squad made a very important arrest in the Malegaon blast case late Monday night. Praveen Muthalik, who is said to be one of the executors of the blast was arrested and later remanded in police custody till February 14. He had been absconding for nearly two years.
On September 29, 2008, a bomb explosion at 9:35pm opposite Shakil Goods Transport Company situated between Anjuman Chowk and Bhiku Chowk in Malegaon killed six persons and injured 101.
According to a senior ATS official, the man identified as Rizwan Khan was arrested from his residence at Kalyan in Thane district on Friday night.
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.