Sadhvi, 5 Hindutva activists involved in for Malegaon, Modasa blasts

Indian Express - 24 October 2008

Sadhvi, 5 Hindu activists in net for Malegaon, Modasa

by Smita Nair, Vikram Rautela, Milind Ghatwai

Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal October 23 : The Maharashtra Police have picked up six Hindu activists, including Pragya Singh Thakur, an “extremely radical” sadhvi from Gujarat, in connection with the September 29 Ramzan blasts in Malegaon and Modasa but say they are still looking for the mastermind as well as the source of their explosives.

As first reported in The Indian Express today, the state police claim to have cracked the case and blame the bombings on the Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM), an Indore-based extremist group, and say that the suspects had links to the RSS student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

The ABVP said Pragya was a member of its national executive in 1996-97 but added “she has had no contact with the organisation for the last one decade or so.”

Five Muslims were killed in a powerful blast in the communally sensitive textile town of Malegaon and one Muslim boy was killed in the explosion in Modasa in Sabarkantha district.

Sources said that the Pragya was picked up from near Surat, along with four men from Indore and one from Dewas in Madhya Pradesh. While Madhya Pradesh police confirmed that the men had been picked up by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Gujarat police sources claimed all five had been picked up from near Surat. The men have been identified as Dilip Nagar, Mehul Rawal, Shyamlal Sahu, Dharmendra Bairagi and Shivnarayan Singh. The motorcycle used in the Malegaon blast was traced to one of these men and yielded the first breakthrough.

The HJM was formed in 2002 and hit headlines during the Bhojshala dispute in Dhar in Madhya Pradesh. Hindus and Muslims had both claimed the 11th century monument as their own and the HJM demanded that Hindus be allowed to worship Goddess Saraswati there at any time and not just once a year. The outfit operates out of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s office, ‘Archana’, in Indore’s Rambaug locality.

For, the record, an ATS spokesman said: “We are investigating the matter currently and will share the details of investigations at the appropriate time.” But highly placed police sources in Gujarat told The Indian Express that about a fortnight ago, the sadhvi was picked up from Puna village near Surat and the men were taken away from the same village a day later.

Puna is near the Ahmedabad-Mumbai National Highway, off the Kadodara cross-road which leads to Surat city. Sources said Pragya was a little-known name in BJP/VHP...circles in South Gujarat where the two outfits have a strong network. She is believed to be based in Madhya Pradesh but frequently visited Surat.

“The ABVP condemns the bomb blasts in Malegaon and Modasa in the strongest possible terms and demands that the law take its course. While the ABVP has had no connection whatsoever with Pragya for the last one decade or so, it’s true that she was a member of the Parishad’s national executive in 1996-97. The present controversy is due to a politically motivated campaign launched by our ideological adversaries, the Congress and the Left,” said ABVP Zonal Organising Secretary (Delhi and Rajasthan region), Sunil Bansal.

The Madhya Bharat Convenor of HJM, Radheshyam Yadav, said the organisation had nothing to do with the blasts or the suspects. “They should have got in touch with us before naming us,” he said, accusing the Congress of using the ATS for political gain. (With inputs from Suman K Jha, New Delhi)....