The former journalist claimed the National Investigation Agency had 'irrefutable evidence against senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar and it wanted to take him into custody for interrogation'.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has reopened investigations into the 2006 Nanded blast, which is being seen as a key indicator of a Hindutva group's involvement in terror activities.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said it was premature to have a debate on the links of those involved in Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad with the organisation.
In a state of trance, Pandey reveals that while working for the Indian Air Force, he got in touch with Purohit who was in the military intelligence at that time.
The Army's 'prestige has been hurt' after the arrest of its serving officer in connection with the Malegaon blasts, the Deputy Army Chief said on Thursday, but stressed that it was a 'freak' incident.Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit was on Wednesday arrested in Mumbai for allegedly supplying money and explosives for the September 29 Malegaon blast. The officer was posted at the Army Corps Training College and Centre at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh.
He said he's languishing in jail for nine years without even charges being framed against him.
While five accused remained present in the court, judge P R Sitre expressed displeasure over the absence of two others. The court then directed all the seven accused to appear before it on January 4.
Police were probing the links of right-wing group Sanatan Saunstha with the blast that took place at 9.30 pm on Friday night when explosives kept in a scooter went off on a busy street in Margao, 30 km from Panaji.
Public prosecutor Ajay Mishra said the crime committed by the three was a "serious offence" and they were booked under charges of murder, attempt to murder and voluntarily causing grievous hurt under IPC Sections 302, 307 and 326 respectively
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Monday issued a bailable warrant against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, for failing to appear before it despite repeated warnings.
While 'Hindu terror acts' are made out to be a relatively new concept, the fact remains that the first signs of Hindu terror came to the fore as way back as 2006, when a bomb went off while bding assembled in a Hindu activist's house in Nanded, Maharashtra
Two persons were picked up on Monday from Belthangady in Mangalore in connection with the Malegaon blast case. It has been learnt that the two belong to the Sanatan Sanstha organisation. Investigators are also exploring a possible link between the Malegaon blast and the blast in Goa around Diwali 2009.
Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik, arrested in connection with Saturday's attack on a pub in Mangalore, was on Thursday produced before a local court.Muthalik, who was arrested in Davanagere on Wednesday soon after a court granted him bail in another case, was brought to Mangalore today afternoon.He has been arrested in connection with Saturday's attack on a pub by the activists of his outfit, who thrashed women and others in an act of moral policing.
The Mumbai police will be probing if Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Prasad Purohit and others arrested in connection with the Malegaon blasts had any role in the explosions in other parts of the country this year even as the hunt for two absconding accused intensified.
"Prima facie there is no case made out against Sadhvi Pragya," said Justice More while granting bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused of plotting the 2008 Malegaon blast on Tuesday. Sadhvi's lawyer Shyam Dewani speaks to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com on what were the circumstances under which she got bail.
Launching its probe into suspected role of right-wing groups in terror acts, a Central probe agency has taken over investigation of three blast cases -- Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Sharif and Malegaon -- in which the cadres of Abhinav Bharat are alleged to be involved.
The current situation in Kerala politics is perhaps best described as a case of the state's traditional two front politics now seeing a third front (the BJP) muscling in with the potential outcome being either a messy three front affair or a renewed endorsement of the two front pattern but with one of the old fronts compromised or quashed, observes Shyam G Menon.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused in the Malegaon blast case, has filed an application in the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court.Thakur has requested the court to direct the probe team, which is scheduled to take her to Bhopal in connection with the murder case of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist Sunil Joshi, to let her travel in an air-conditioned compartment. Sunil Joshi's name had cropped up during the investigation of the Malegaon blasts case.
Another angle which investigating agencies are seriously probing is Joshi's affiliation with the SIMI. Investigating officers say during his stint with the SIMI, Joshi mingled with them all the time. In fact he had become a part of them and this had started to worry his group members.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on Thursday took a holy dip in Kshipra river during the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Ujjain.
Stating that the Shiv Sena was ready to provide the best lawyers to defend Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast, Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday ridiculed Congress Member of Parliament Gurudas Kamat, who has demanded his arrest for backing her. "Whenever Congressmen have feats of Muslim appeasement, they dream of my arrest," Thackeray said in an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana.
The court passed the order after the Member of Parliament from Bhopal, a prime accused in the case, sought another exemption from appearance citing health problems.
Catch all the action from the Upper and Lower House of Parliament.
In a judgment that seeks to define the role of the National Investigation Agency, the Bombay high court has ruled that as a matter of general rule the agency cannot be prohibited from carrying out fresh investigations or re-investigations in specific cases.
"You never know at which moment it can create problems for her. There is a problem with her L4 and L5 bones (vertebrae) as they got dislocated because ATS Maharashtra (investigators) threw her on the floor," Upma Thakur, Pragya Thakur's sister said.
"I want to wear my uniform. It is outermost layer of my skin. I am wedded to it. I am very happy to get back into the service of the best organisation in the country if not the world, the Indian Army," said Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that after fulfilling Bharatiya Janata Party's poll promise on Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya, work has begun in Mathura and Vrindavan as well.
Malegaon blasts were not the only terror strike Joshi orchestrated. He, says the charge-sheet by NIA, was involved in the planning and execution of blasts in Malegaon, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid.
Dhan Singh, a prime suspect in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case, was on Thursday remanded in the custody of National Investigation Agency till December 28 in the 2008 Malegaon blast case by the special National Investigation Agency court in Mumbai.
She wanted to take a dip in the Shipra river in Ujjain and had secured an order from a court in Dewas district.
The Indian Army's military police and quick response team escorted Colonel Purohit out of the jail.
Will the NIA 'get conviction' in Mecca Masjid blast, Ajmer Dargha blast and Malegaon blasts cases, he asked.
Strongly protesting against two news channels for their reports about Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) alleged involvement in the Malegaon and Modasa blasts, the BJP's student wing today termed it a "conspiracy of the Communists and the Church to defame it".
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.
The Congress on Friday termed the National Investigation Agecy's decision to drop all charges against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was a vindication of the disclosure made by former special public prosecutor.
The petition filed by Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh questions how the NIA can probe cases when law and order is the exclusive subject of the state government. Vicky Nanjappa reports
There was utter confusion among cops as various theories were being applied in this case. First and foremost, the attack was carried out in a Muslim holy place, which foxed the police as this was a relatively new trend of the terror outfits.
Bhopal MP and BJP leader Pragya Singh Thakur was on Saturday airlifted to Mumbai for treatment after she complained of uneasiness, her aide said.
The nine are accused of carrying out four serial blasts in Malegaon on September 8, 2006, in which 31 people were killed and 312 injured.
The allegations against her are baseless. Nothing against her or Swami Aseemanad have been proved, Shah said.