Indian Express, October 2, 2008
Police said it could not rule out possibility of a Hindu extremist hand in Malegaon blast.
Mumbai, October 2: A day after the Maharashtra Police said it could not rule out the possibility of a Hindu extremist hand in Monday’s blast in Malegaon, investigators are revisiting the crude bombs that were planted in auditoriums on the outskirts of Mumbai earlier this year.
The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) last month charged six members of two Hindu revivalist organisations, the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS), for the incidents in Thane, Vashi and Panvel, and its members will be questioned in connection with the Malegaon blast, sources in the ATS told 'The Indian Express' on Wednesday.
“The possibility of Hindu extremist groups being involved is being probed along with other possibilities. We will soon question members of the Sanatan Sanstha and the HJS,” said a senior ATS official.
On September 11, the ATS had filed a 1,020-page chargesheet against six arrested accused for their alleged involvement in a small explosion that took place at a Panvel theatre screening Bollywood film Jodhaa Akbar on February 20, a crude bomb planted at Vishnudas Bhave auditorium in Vashi on May 31 as well as a bomb that exploded at Gadkari Rangayatan auditorium in Thane on June 4. The Vashi and Thane halls were showing a Marathi play which apparently poked fun at the Mahabharat.
All six are members of the Sanatan Sanstha and the HJS, although the organisations claimed that they had no role and the men may have acted on their own. During interrogation, the six are also said to have said that their activities were not at the behest of the organisations. The ATS chargesheet made no mention of the role of the two organisations.
However, the ATS is now planning to file a supplementary chargesheet after getting new evidence. According to sources, there is a strong possibility that both organisations might find a mention in it. “Our investigations are continuing and we will file a supplementary chargesheet. This time, there might be a mention of the HJS and Sanatan Sanstha,” said the officer.
Responding to questions from The Indian Express, Dr Durgesh Samant, the national spokesperson of the HJS, said: “If the police want to question us, they are free to do so. However, we deny any involvement in the Malegaon blast. We are against such acts, and condemn them.” Sanatan Sanstha spokesman Abhay Vartak said this was an attempt by the police to misguide people and “appease...
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