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.
National Investigating Agency on Monday filed another appeal in a local court in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh seeking the transfer of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Sunil Joshi murder case to a special court in Bhopal. The court has posted the matter for hearing on August 9.
While probing cases of terrorism, investigators often get it wrong due to the immense pressure associated with these cases. The arrest of innocent youth after the Mecca Masjid blasts, of Abdul Sammad from Bhatkal and of Javed Ali from Ullal in Karnataka are some examples of investigative agencies arresting the wrong guys. These arrests often end up creating communal tension while the real culprits get away scot-free.
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
A Hyderabad court remanded Swami Asimanand, an accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, in eight-day Central Bureau of Investigation custody till December 18.
After interrogating Swami Aseemanand for seven days, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday sought an additional 15-day custody of the preacher in connection with 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case.
Were you there when the bomb went off at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid?
In the second part of the three-part interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Gatade says that only continuous vigil by people would ensure that the law of the land remains supreme.
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 Andhra Pradesh government has for the first time admitted that suspecting Muslims in Mecca Masjid blast case was a mistake as the terror attack was handiwork of 'Hindu militants'. It has also promised to extend financial assistance to the Muslim youth who were falsely implicated in the case.
'It is hard to connect this Hindu terror mastermind over-drive with the Swami Aseemanand of tribal simplicity and boundless energy, whom I have known since the last 11 years and interacted with closely.'
The CBI says Kalsangra, an Abhinav Bharat activist, was introduced to Gupta by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Sunil Joshi. Kalsangra's role becomes crucial since all the accused who are in custody have told their interrogators that he was the man who planted the bomb at Malegaon
Aseemanand, who confessed to being in the know of the Mecca Masjid, Samjhauta, Ajmer and Malegaon blasts, also stated prior to his confession that it was a boy named Abdul Kaleem, who inspired him to make this confession before the magistrate
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Indresh Kumar is likely to be quizzed again by the Central Bureau of Investigation0, which is scrutinising documents submitted by him after he faced the agency sleuths recently in connection with the probe into the Mecca Masjid blast case.
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.
The chargesheet in the Samjautha Express blasts case, which was filed recently by the National Investigative Agency, states that two crucial players in the case are still absconding.
Swami Aseemanand, an accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, was on Friday remanded in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation for seven days by a local court.
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.
The government said on Friday that it was aware that elements in certain right wing Hindu outfits were allegedly involved in terror activities in the country.
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.
Most names figuring in the investigations of the 2007 bomb blasts in Ajmer, at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid, and in Malegaon hail from Madhya Pradesh's Malwa region. Rediff.com's Krishnakumar Padmanabhan traces the common thread that could have brought these men together.
More members of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak may have been involved in planning the Ajmer blast in October 2007, according to sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation.Devender Gupta, who was arrested in connection with the Ajmer blast and the Mecca Masjid blast, has reportedly revealed that RSS members Varshney and Ashok Berry were also involved in planning the blast.The duo had allegedly provided refuge in Lucknow to the suspects who carried out the Ajmer blast.
The Central Bureau of Investigation's probe in the Mecca Masjid blast case has brought yet another blunder by the Hyderabad city police to the fore.
A Hyderabad court has remanded Lokesh Sharma, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist and suspect in the Mecca masjid blast case, to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigations for 10 days.
The Central Bureau of Investigation recently named former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist Sunil Joshi as an accused in the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blast cases. Joshi was shot dead by three unknown assailants on December 29, 2007.Joshi and his accomplices believed that the minority community will be blamed for the blast, and would face massive police crackdown as a consequence.The plan was reportedly finalised by group in Madhya Pradesh.
Member of the Lok Sabha from Hyderabad and president of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Asaduddin Owaisi on Hindu terrorism and why he thinks Hyderabadi Muslims have been victimised.
After the lifting of all the 1,667 cases booked against the participants of agitations in support and against the formation of a separate Telangana state, the Andhra Pradesh government was now seriously considering the demand for withdrawing the cases booked against the Muslim youth in Hyderabad and other places in the state.
Three years after the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad, investigators stated that all evidence point to Right-wing Hindu groups.
The CBI arrested Aseemanand on November 19 for his alleged involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in which nine persons were killed. He was earlier living under a fake identity in Haridwar and had also procured fake identity cards.
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.
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.
Opposing the CBI's application to further interrogate Asimanand, his advocate J B Chinna Kesava Rao told the XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court that his client had already been interrogated for two days after being arrested by CBI on November 19.
In a success for the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Mecca Masjid blast case, two of the witnesses have identified Lokesh Sharma, who was arrested by the Rajasthan police in April, as the man who had purchased a cellphone from their shop.
S R Darapuri, a retired Indian Police Service officer has been fighting for several innocents picked up and tortured by the police in several cases of terrorism,explains how the police force is beset with bias and what needs to be done to tackle it.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing the Ajmer and Hyderabad Mecca Masjid blasts, say that their case will not be complete unless and until they manage to lay their hands on Swami Aseemanand -- who is believed to be the father of the right wing groups carrying out subversive activities in the country.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is all set to bring the accused of Ajmer blast, Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, to Hyderabad in connection with Mecca Masjid blast in May, 2007.
Hyderabad city was under a security blanket on the eve of the third anniversary of bomb blast in historic Mecca Masjid as hundreds of armed policemen were deployed in the city to prevent any untoward incident.
A constable was killed and two others were injured after three unidentified men on motorbike fired at them in Old Hyderabad on Friday afternoon.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is hoping that the arrest of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Devender Gupta, who was arrested in connection with the blast in Ajmer Dargah three years ago, might give key answers to the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad that occurred the same year.
The cultural ethos of Hyderabad goes beyond the famous Charminar and the Mecca Masjid. Come Ramzan and the buzz around the bazaars in the city is obvious.