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.
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.
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.
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 family of slain Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare has declined Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's offer of monetary help, sources said on Saturday.
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.
Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad is considering pressing charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against all the nine accused in the Malegaon blast case, including Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.The ATS is investigating transfer of funds from the bank account of Lt. Col. Purohit, the first serving army officer to be arrested in the case, to Rahirkar and others for execution of the alleged conspiracy.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
A special court on Thursday said the application of provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act in the Malegaon blast case by the Maharashtra police was valid.After perusing the chargesheet, special MCOCA judge Y D Shinde said prima facie there was evidence to invoke MCOCA in the case.The over 4,000-page chargesheet had been filed by the ATS against 14 accused in the case charging them under MCOCA.
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 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.
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.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Wednesday claimed that terror suspect Jaan Mohammad Sheikh, arrested along with five others by the Delhi police, had links with the 'D-Company' about 20 years back.
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.
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.
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.
A senior police officer said information networks were strengthened following an input around 15-20 days ago that three Bangladeshis had slipped into the country and could possibly carry out subversive acts at the National Stock Exchange building and some nuclear installations in the city.
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, who was probing the Malegaon blasts case, suffered three bullet injuries in his chest as he was leading the offensive against the terrorists in one of the places the ultras had holed out early this morning.
It is incredible that the Sadhvi was kept in illegal detention for two weeks while she was tortured in a vicious manner which led to her hospitalisation. Polygraph and narco tests were conducted without her consent. Not even a female constable was present during her illegal confinement.
The claim by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad about presence of RDX in the 2007 Samjhauta train blast has flummoxed investigators, who probed the attack, as forensic analysis had shown no signs of the deadly explosive being used in the terror strike that left 68 people dead.
With the arrest of a Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist from Uttar Pradesh who had done a recce of a dozen sensitive targets in Mumbai, the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad fears three or more terror modules could be operating in the financial capital and newer strategies will have to be devised for busting them.
The four accused had applied for bail in February earlier this year. The 2006 Malegaon case comprised of two sets of accused.
Four persons, including a woman, who were held in Surat on Friday on suspicion of being terror suspects wanted by the Mumbai police, were released on Tuesday after it was verified that they were not the same whose sketches were released last week.
The officer said further investigation and forensic analysis will be done after the mobile handset and details of the seizure are received from Tihar Jail authorities.
The NIA's chargesheet in the 2006 Malegaon blasts mocks the investigation conducted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad into the matter, reports Vicky Nanjappa
Mansukh Hiren, who was in possession of the car that was found with explosives outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence, in a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister and Home Minister had alleged that he was being harassed by police and media. He had also claimed that in spite of being a victim, he was treated as an accused.
Opinion on likely cause of the death of Mansukh Hiren, who is said to be the owner of the vehicle with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in Mumbai last month, is reserved in his post-mortem report on Saturday, a Thane police official said.
The joint statement was issued by retired DGPs Julio Ribeiro, Prakash Singh, P K Hormis Tharakan, Kamal Kumar, Jacob Punnoose, Sanjeev Dayal, Jayanto Choudhury and N Ramachandran.
A suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist was arrested on Tuesday by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad in connection with the 2011 serial bomb blasts in which 26 people were killed.