#1.
Times of India
CBI to reopen investigations into Nanded blasts
23 Nov 2008, 1919 hrs IST, PTI
MUMBAI: With fresh leads emerging out of Malegaon blast case, the CBI may soon reopen investigations into the 2006 Nanded blast, which is being
seen as a main indicator of saffron group emerging as a major terror network.
While officially the CBI had adopted a taciturn policy on the issue, sources in the agency said it would reopen the case as some leads had emerged during the investigations into the September 29 Malegaon blast in which 11 people, including Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, have been arrested.
CBI's role had come into question from the probe conducted by central security agencies and Maharashtra's ATS, the agency appeared to have not taken due cognisance of deposition of one of the accused arrested in the case.
The accused, whose voice had to be restored after operating his vocal chord which was damaged in the blast, had told investigators that Naresh Rajkondwar, a Bajrang Dal activist, had allegedly planned three blasts outside mosques that shook Jalna and Parbani in Maharashtra in 2003 and 2004.
Several rounds of meetings took place between the CBI officials and central security agencies where sleuths probing the Malegaon blasts pointed out some of the alleged loopholes in the investigations carried out by the CBI.
The Nanded bomb blast took place in the intervening night of April 4 and 5, 2006 at the residence of Laxman Rajkondwar, allegedly a RSS worker. Rajkondwar's son Naresh and Himanshu Panse, who was VHP activist, were killed while assembling the bomb.
CBI had chargesheeted ten people in the case. But sources said it has not been able to trace back the leads provided by some of the accused who claimed to have admitted, before investigators, their role in the earlier blasts.
Recoveries made from Rajkondwar's house included Muslim skull caps, fake beards and a plan showing that the target was to hit a mosque at Aurangabad, nearly 200 km from Nanded.
The CBI would now be focussing more on recovery of over a ton of explosives used in manufacturing of fire crackers and its links with the previous blasts.
Sources said that one of the accused had told the investigators that he was sent to Pune by Naresh on his train ticket on the day when crude explosive material was thrown outside a mosque in Jalna in 2004, a move aimed at creating an alibi for Naresh and to show that he was not in town when the blast took place.
The CBI was also asked by central security agencies as to why the call details of Naresh were not investigated properly, the sources said and claimed that one such call had been traced to an important functionary of a saffron outfit in Ayodhya.
The CBI would also try and probe the links of 10 arrests in the Malegaon blast case including Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit, with the Nanded case.
The agency had investigated the Nanded blast and filed a chargesheet on March 15, 2008 against 10 people which included Sanjay Chowdhury, Yogesh Deshpande, Maruti Wagah, Gunniraj Thakur and Mahesh Pandey, allegedly associated with Bajrang Dal besides the two who were killed.
----
#2.
expressindia.com
CBI did not take leads of Nanded seriously
Agencies
Posted: Nov 16, 2008 at 1343 hrs IST
Mumbai, November 16: CBI investigations into the 2006 Nanded blast have come into question as the agency appears to have not taken due cognisance of deposition of one of the accused indicating first signs of militarisation of some of the self-styled right wing groups.
Sources in the Central security agencies said one of the accused, whose voice had to be restored after operating his vocal chord which was damaged in the blast, had told investigators that Naresh Rajkondwar, a Bajrang Dal activist, had allegedly planned three blasts outside mosques that shook Jalna and Parbani in Maharashtra in 2003 and 2004.
The Nanded bomb blast took place in the intervening night of April 4 and 5, 2006 at the residence of Laxman Rajkondwar, allegedly a RSS worker. Rajkondwar' son Naresh and Himanshu Panse who was VHP activist were killed while assembling the bomb.
Though the CBI has chargesheeted ten people in the case, sources said, it has not been able to trace back the leads provided by some of the accused who claimed to have admitted, before investigators, their role in the earlier blasts.
Recoveries made by the investigating agencies from Rajkondwar's house included Muslim skull caps, fake beards and a plan showing that the target was to hit a Mosque at Aurangabad, nearly 200 km from Nanded.
Investigators claimed the accused had revealed that he was sent to Pune by Naresh on his train ticket on the day when crude explosive material was thrown outside a mosque in Jalna in 2004.
According to sources, this was done to create an alibi for Naresh and to show that he was not in town when the blast took place.
With the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) looking into the possible linkages of the accused in the Malegaon blast with Nanded and other explosions, CBI has now sent a team to Mumbai to get fresh inputs to help its probe.
While the CBI preferred to remain silent on the issue, some of its senior officers admitted that their investigations were limited to Nanded case only.
Officials who had investigated the Nanded blast, on condition of anonymity said that during the probe, call details of Naresh were also traced to an important functionary of a saffron outfit in Ayodhya, which was however, not pursued.
The CBI now wants to probe the links of 10 arrests in the Malegaon blast case including Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit, with the Nanded case.
The agency had investigated the Nanded blast and filed a chargesheet on March 15, 2008 against 10 people which included Sanjay Chowdhury, Yogesh Deshpande, Maruti Wagah, Gunniraj Thakur and Mahesh Pandey, allegedly associated with Bajrang Dal besides the two who were killed.
----
#3.
expressindia.com
Petition may be filed against CBI in Nanded blast case
Agencies
Posted: Nov 09, 2008 at 1618 hrs IST
Mumbai, November 9: In the light of the arrests made in the September 29 Malegaon blast, a petition is likely to be filed in the Supreme Court next week challenging the CBI chargesheet filed in the 2006 Nanded blast case, noted social activist Teesta Setalvad said.
"We cannot reveal too many details of the petition presently but we will be seeking a judicial inquiry into recent blasts like the Malegaon blast," Setalvad said.
The petition will also challenge the chargesheet filed by the CBI filed in the 2006 Nanded blast case in which two alleged Bajrang Dal activists who were making a bomb were killed when it exploded, she said.
"The CBI has watered down the chargesheet filed originally by the Anti-Terrorism squad and we would want that looked into," Setalvad said.
A senior CBI official had met with Anti Terrorism Squad investigators on November 9 in connection with the nine arrests made in the Malegaon blast case and also met with some of the accused allegedly in connection with the Nanded blast case.
The CBI, which is also handling the 2006 Malegaon blasts case in which the chargesheet has already been filed, had said they would provide all required assistance to the ATS.
A serving Lieutenant Colonel, a former army officer, a Sadhvi and a senior functionary of a right wing group are among the nine arrested for their involvement in planting a motorcycle bomb in Malegaon, which claimed six lives.
The ATS had said traces of RDX had been found at the blast site in Malegaon and the source of the explosives is still being probed.
|
