The Bharatiya Janata Party sought to project Swami Aseemanand's reported confession of his involvement in Samjhauta blast as a diversionary tactic by Congress in the wake of latest revelations in the Bofors case, accusing the ruling party of giving leverage to Pakistani terrorists by throwing the blame on Hindu radicals for their acts.
Not satisfied with the Central Bureau of Investigation's two-page report refuting allegation of leaking the confessional statement of Ajmer dargah blast accused Swami Aseemanand, a Delhi court on Tuesday asked the director of the agency to file a complete report on the issue.
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.
There seems to be no respite for Swami Aseemanand, who also goes by the alias Jatin Chatterjee. After being quizzed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the 2007 Ajmer and Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, in which he is an accused, the National Investigating Agency is now saying that they want to interrogate the swami in connection with the Samjautha train blasts.
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.
A man with a grandfatherly moustache, another in saintly robes and reportage on the saffron face of terror that went unnoticed, says Bharat Bhushan.
'We were expecting death sentences, but now the court has acquitted them, despite Aseemanand himself admitting to his crime in front of a judge.' More importantly, it seems the tag of 'Hindu Terror' coined by the United Progressive Alliance government was wrong all along. Amjedullah Khan, spokesperson for the Majlis Bachao Tehreek, has been tracking the Mecca Masjid blast case from day one and was also involved in securing the release of more than 100 Muslims youths who were falsely accused in different terror cases in the aftermath of the blast. He spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com about the acquittal of Swami Aseemanand and what it means.
Special NIA court judge Jagdeep Singh posted the matter for March 14 after a Pakistani woman filed a petition claiming she had some evidence relevant to the case.
Investigators told rediff.com that the Malegaon blasts will be the key since it is concerned to be the mother of this terror jigsaw as the breakthroughs were first made in that case.
The men targetting Mohan Bhagwat were convinced he was the wrong choice to head the RSS, an NIA agent told Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
As vice president and ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankar is inheriting a troubled legacy. Although the government faces no real numerical challenges in the Upper House, political and legal challenges are there aplenty.
Jawid said he also did not get compensation of Rs 10 lakh announced by the Centre as the DNA samples between Shabbir and his family did not match.
NIA claims that they have evidence to show that Swami Aseemanand handed over money to execute the blast. However, there have been no breakthroughs in finding the money trail. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The bail plea of nine persons accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts has been rejected by a special MCOCA court in Mumbai on Tuesday. The nine accused had moved the special MCOCA court in February seeking bail on the basis of the confessional statement of Swami Aseemanand, a key accused in the Samjhauta Express blasts case. Aseemanand had alleged that right-wing groups were involved in the 2006 bombings.The anti-terrorism squad of the Maharashtra police had investigated the case
Shah defended the government for not filing an appeal against the acquittal of all four accused, including the radical right-wing's Swami Aseemanand, in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blasts case.
In a fresh development in the 2006 Malegaon blast probe, a special court on Thursday granted permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation for reinvestigating the case in wake of "confession" statements made by Swami Aseemanand linking Hindu groups to terror acts.
Investigators probing the acts of terror allegedly carried out by right-wing groups at Malegaon, Ajmer and Hyderabad are now looking for one Swami Aseemanand and his accomplice.The police have been looking for Swami Aseemanand since the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in October 2009 in connection with the Malegaon blasts. The ATS had picked up incriminating intercepts of his conversation with the Sadhvi.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda onh Friday equated Khap Panchayats with organisations like Non-Governmental Organisations, saying that they are part of state's culture.
Seven years after Samjhauta Express blasts, a court on Friday framed murder, sedition and other charges against right wing Hindu activist Swami Aseemanand and three others paving the way for start of trial.
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
The Congress on Monday hit out at Narendra Modi and his close aide Amit Shah for carrying out a "communal campaign" and demanded action by the Election Commission against Shah for his controversial remark that Azamgarh in UP was a "base of terrorists".
'The country's home ministry has misused investigating agencies in the most illegal, corrupt, inhuman and unjustified way to trap innocents like me in terror traps,' says RSS leader Indresh Kumar, who terror accused Swami Aseemanand alleged knew of plots to bomb the Samjhauta Express, the Mecca Masjid and the Ajmer Dargah.
The National Investigation Agency on Saturday made its first arrest in connection with Maharashtra's 2006 Malegaon bombing after the role of right-wing groups came to the fore with the nabbing of Swami Aseemanand last year.
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.
While the National Investigation Agency is focusing on the confessions made by Swami Aseemanand about the involvement of Hindu extremist groups in the Samjhauta blasts case, the revelations by SIMI claiming responsibility for the attack cannot be overlooked. The contradictory statements by the two radical groups has left the investigators going in circles, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is mulling taking Swami Aseemanand into custody in connection with its probe in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case after the agency questioned some of the accused belonging to a right wing outfit arrested for allegedly planting bombs in Malegaon in 2008.
The Samjautha blasts chargesheet was finally filed after many twists and turns on Monday. The accused now are Swami Aseemanand, the late Sunil Joshi, Lokesh Sharma, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalasangra.
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.
Investigative agencies are finally looking at the possibility of a Hindutva terror network. Aseemanand's alleged confession and the earlier arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit have shown the trail of the Hindutva terror network, which has turned the course of investigations into the bombings of Malegaon, Samjhauta Express, Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid bomb blast cases.
The National Investigation Agency, which has been struggling to collect evidence in the 2006 Malegaon blast case, is likely to quiz some of the Maharashtra ATS officials who had probed the case.
The National Investigation Agency on Monday informed a court hearing the 2006 Malegaon bomb blast case that it would file additional charge sheet against the nine accused on November 4.
The confessions of Swami Aseemanand may have brought a certain about of clarity in the Malegaon and the Samjhauta Express blasts cases, but the Mecca Masjid blast case remains far from being solved, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat admitted there were some members in the Sangh who had radical views but they were told to leave the organisation since this "extremism" will not work in the outfit.
In an apparent reference to Swami Aseemanand's confession to a special court in New Delhi, a statement issued by the Foreign Office said the Indian diplomat's "attention was drawn to the recent reports in the media on the investigations into the Samjhauta Express blasts of February 2007".
Striking a strident note, the Congress has renewed its attack on the Sangh Parivar asking the government to take strong and tough action against them, in the wake of a top Sangh functionary Swami Aseemanand admitting that he and his colleagues were involved in the Samjhauta Express blasts.
With the terror trail leading to Hindu right-wing groups in 2006 Malegaon bombings, the Central Bureau of Investigation is now planning to question members of such outfits including those arrested in connection with the blasts in Maharashtra's power-loom city two years later.
Nine Muslim men, who were arrested in the 2006 Malegaon blasts and in jail for the past four years, on Monday moved a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court seeking bail citing Swami Aseemanand's confession pointing to a right-wing group's involvement in the attack that killed 36 persons.
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.
Nine persons, who have been lodged in jail for the last four years on charges of their involvement in the Malegaon bomb blasts, are preparing the sue the Anti-Terrorism Squad for allegedly falsely implicating them in the case, following the confession by Swami Aseemanand of his involvement in it. The blasts that rocked the textile town in September 2006 had resulted in the death of 32 people.
While there is a debate still on whether Swami Aseemanand actually confessed on his own after being touched by the conduct of a former accused in the Mecca Masjid case or that he did so under duress, the fact remains that there is a ray of hope among many youths who continue to languish in jails after being implicated in the above mentioned cases.
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