From Mail Today, 19 September 2011
NIA unveils face of saffron terror
By Aman Sharma in New Delhi
Photos of fugitives wanted in several blasts released
THE Hindutva face of terror has been bared. Desperate for leads into the whereabouts of 11 rightwing militants who are on the run, the National Investigation Agency ( NIA) has now made their photographs public. The fugitives are wanted for major blasts, including those in Goa, at Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid and on Samjhauta Express.
Some of them are also believed to have murdered RSS worker Sunil Joshi, who was himself the prime conspirator in a number of terror attacks. The NIA took over the probe of the Joshi murder case from the Madhya Pradesh Police in June. It is also investigating the Goa, Ajmer Sharif, Mecca Masjid and Malegaon blasts.
The agency has now opened a 24- hour- assistance line for any information on the wanted men.
A ministry of home affairs ( MHA) official said catching the absconders could expose the links of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) with Hindutva terror.
Furthermore, the alleged role played by the sangh’s senior member, Indresh Kumar, in the incidents would also come to light. In a reply to Parliament on September 7, the MHA admitted that the role of the RSS had not been specifically confirmed as yet in the Samjhauta, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid investigations.
“ However, some of the key accused in these cases — Swami Asimanand, Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, who have been arrested and chargesheeted — were reportedly involved in RSS activities earlier. This was revealed during the course of the probe and also from the confessional statements of Asimanand,” the home ministry told Parliament. Asimanand told the CBI that Joshi may have been killed at the behest of Indresh.
Among those whose photographs have been put out are five key accused, all from Gujarat, wanted for transporting and planting bombs at the Ajmer Sharif dargah on Joshi’s directions.
Each of them — Bhavesh Patel, Mehul, Jayant Gohil, Ramesh Gohil and Suresh Nair — carries a reward of ` 2 lakh.
Soon after the Ajmer blast on October 11, 2007, Joshi was found killed. Mehul and Jayant, who lived with Joshi, are suspected to have murdered him on December 29, 2007. Mehul is also wanted for the Best Bakery massacre in Gujarat. Catching him, the NIA emphasises, is the key to cracking the Joshi murder case and ascertaining whether he was bumped off because it was feared that he knew too much about the terror module.
The big fish who controlled the Hindutva terror machinery after Joshi’s death are Ramji Kalsangre and Sandeep Dange, both from Indore. Their photographs were made public by the NIA last year and carry a reward of ` 10 lakh each.
The duo is thought to have been deeply involved in all the major blasts linked to Hindutva terror- ists. “ We believe they planted the bombs on Samjhauta Express in 2008. A massive hunt for them has not yielded results so far,” an MHA official said.
Among the latest batch of photographs released now is that of another Samjhauta plotter, Amit alias Ashwini Chauhan, on whom there is a reward of ` 2 lakh. The NIA does not know from where this man hails.
The Bureau of Immigration has also issued lookout circulars against the three men to stop them from fleeing India.
Three other terrorists on the run whose pictures have been released are the ones wanted for the Goa blast of 2009 in which two people were killed and two IEDs were defused just in time to prevent a much bigger strike.
Right- wing organisation Sanathan Sanstha was found to be behind the blasts and some of its cadre were arrested. The NIA is still hunting for three more men of this group — Jay Prakash @ Anna, Praveen Limkar and Rudra Patil.
A home ministry official confirmed Maharashtra Police had recommended to the state government to ban Sanathan Sanstha and Abhinav Bharat by including them in the Schedule of Terrorist Organisations under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities ( Prevention) Act, 1967.
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