Criminal jurisprudence is based on an interesting saying, "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than one innocent suffer." However, that does not seem to apply to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad. There are several instances to show that the agency has botched up its investigation, the latest being Pune Bakery blast main accused Himayat Baig.
The Centre has rejected the Maharashtra government's proposal to ban right wing group Abhinav Bharat, which is accused of carrying out the bomb attack at Malegaon in 2008. The decision has been taken by the home ministry after it came to the conclusion that the group has not been involved in any terrorist or anti-national activity in recent years.
Hindu right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand, an accused in several terror cases, has moved a court seeking to withdraw his application to turn a witness in the Ajmer Dargah blast case even as the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad on Friday said it is planning to file a chargesheet against him on April 8.
While investigators probing the Malegaon, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid blasts say these incidents were carried out by the Hindu right-wing outfits, they say the Nanded blast in 2006 was the first such attempt and a turning point.
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.
If terror indeed has no religion, no partisan affiliations, and if the government, media and all right-minded people in this country people truly believe that, let us not call one blast a "terrorist incident" and dismiss another one as a mere "cylinder blast" just because it is politically convenient, says Shehzad Poonawala.'If terror indeed has no religion, no partisan affiliations, and if the government, media and all right-minded people in this country truly believe that, let us not call one blast a "terrorist incident" and dismiss another one as a mere "cylinder blast" just because it is politically convenient,' argues Shehzad Poonawalla.
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.
'The country needs to honour the sacrifice of Karkare and not allow deviant individuals to denigrate him and his memory'
Triggering controversy over capital punishment to Yakub Memon in Mumbai blasts case, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday sought to know whether the perpetrators of demolition of disputed structure in Ayodhya, communal riots of Mumbai and Gujarat and other such sensational cases would get a similar punishment.
A 22-year-old army jawan was killed in a landmine blast in Jammu and Kashmir's Naushera region on Monday, family sources said on Wednesday.
'RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was on the Hindu extremists' hit-list. In June 2008, this information was made public. Prior to that, you should hear Bhagwat's speeches and listen to his 'liberal' statements.' 'After he was informed that he was on their hit-list, he became a hardliner. He was not like that before.'
A local court on Tuesday allowed the National Investigation Agency to compare next week forensic evidence collected in Samjhauta Express train blast case with that of bomb attacks in Malegaon, Hyderabad and Ajmer, in which the role of right-wing Hindu extremists is suspected.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday raked up the issue of BJP leader Rajnath Singh's alleged meeting with 2008 Malegaon blast accused Pragya Thakur.
'BJP sarkaar 5 saal mein Ram Mandir bhi nahi bana paayi. Ab Ram Mandir nahi toh Modi nahi'
With no headway in the police probe into the killing of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar nearly a month ago, a Public Interest Litigation has sought transfer of the case to the National Investigation Agency.
The police also arrested Hasib Zuber Mulla, in jail for the Mulun blast, for his involvement in the Ghatkopar bomb blast.
The Congress has kept quiet on the way the Union home ministry has handled innumerable blast cases under its rule. It has not openly condemned the bias that pervades within its government and the security agencies, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
In what can be only be called an utter embarrassment for the National Investigating Agency, two accused in the Malegaon and Mecca Masjid blasts were granted bail by the courts in a span of five days, due to failure on the agency's part to file a chargesheet in the stipulated period of 90 days, as mandated by the Code of Criminal Procedure. Vicky Nanjappa analyses the failure
Construction work for Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya would start "soon" and be "completed during this tenure" of the present National Democratic Alliance government, controversial Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi said on Friday.
'He has terror charges against him. And for an army officer, it's just terrible.'
Pragya Singh Thakur remained at the back of the courtroom during Tuesday's framing of the charges, her face serene, quite different from the fiery person one read about or saw on television. But once the day's proceedings were over and she was wheeled out, the sadhvi decided she actually was very keen to meet the media and headed right out into the melee, says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
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 Bhopal MP was was asked to move to a non-emergency row seat as she was on a wheelchair but she refused, causing the flight to delay of almost 45 minutes. Ultimately, she acquiesced and moved.
Terming the BJP-led Maharashtra government a "total failure", Congress accused Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of giving clean chits to several tainted ministers.
The Deewana incident resembles the Mumbai blasts of July 2006 in three respects -- the terrorists attacked a soft target; it was an act of mass casualty terrorism; and they chose a train as their target
'My husband will never forget the torture nor forgive those responsible for it.'
Sticking to his claim that Rajnath Singh had met Pragya Thakur, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday posted on Twitter a photo purportedly showing the Malegaon blast case accused seated beside the Union home minister and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The new Lok Sabha will have 300 MPs who have been elected for the first time to the Lower House.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader A R Antulay passed away on Tuesday.
Former Union minister and controversial Bharatiya Janata Party MP Anantkumar Hegde has once again stoked a row by calling the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi a "drama". However, this is not the first time a leader from the ruling party has insulted the Father of the Nation. Here are other instances when BJP leaders took a swipe at Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Home Minister also said CDs of Naik's speeches are being examined and asserted that the government will not compromise on the issue of terrorism.
'Many BJP MLAs and ministers tell us the police does not listen to them.'
"Party disciplinary committee will submit the report within 10 days," Shah said.
"Hemant Karkare falsely implicated me. He died of his karma. I told him, he will be destroyed. I told him his entire dynasty will be erased," Pragya said.
'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.
Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan told newsmen in New Delhi that there was no political vendetta by the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad investigating the Malegoan blasts in which sadhavi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit and some others have been picked up for interrogation.
"The remarks made about Gandhiji or Nathuram Godse are very bad and very wrong for society," he said.
The great Indian election is over and now the wait for the results is shrinking with every passing moment. Though exit polls hint at a cakewalk for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his National Democratic Alliance, there are some battles which will be keenly observed on the result day.
'Thakur will not attend meetings of BJP parliamentary party during the session'
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