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MUMBAI: After arresting a sadhvi, a serving army officer and a retired army officer, a bigger breakthrough is on the cards in the sensational
case involving the Malegaon blast of September 29, which killed six people and left 89 injured.
During the course of investigations, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has found that there has been direct or indirect involvement by two high-profile though non-political leaders who owe allegiance to pro-Hindu organisations.
‘‘Our investigations are at a very crucial stage. During the probe, we found that the two non-political leaders, who are not from Maharashtra, had played a vital role in assisting a section of the accused in the Malegaon bomb blast. We will disclose their names at the appropriate time,’’ a senior IPS official told TOI on Tuesday.
While three ATS teams reached UP on Tuesday in search of a ‘‘high-profile leader’’ in connection with the case, there was a lot of speculation on who the leader was. Gorakhpur BJP MP Yogi Adityanath lashed out at claims that he was the suspect. ‘‘I am prepared to face any inquiry or willing to support or cooperate with the ATS if it has some clinching evidence against me,’’ he told TOI, adding that the ATS would face severe retaliation if it only wanted to defame him.
Speaking to TOI, an IPS official said that the ATS was also probing if the accused in the Malegaon bomb blast case had any links with three other blasts, those at Nanded and Ajmer and the blast in the Samjhauta Express in January 2007.
‘‘In the course of investigations, certain information was received about the involvement of the Malegaon blast accused in the Nanded, Ajmer and Samjhauta Express blasts. We are trying to examine if these cases are linked to the Malegaon blast case,’’ the official said.
On the present status of the probe, the IPS official claimed that the ATS had conclusive evidence to establish the direct involvement of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur as well as Purohit and Retired Major R Upadhyaya in the blast.
‘‘From our investigations, it has been confirmed that the sadhvi was fully aware of the entire plan. She had complete knowledge of the plan, before and after. Now we are looking out for four other people, two of whom were entrusted with the task of bringing the vehicle, along with the bombs, to the spot and two others were responsible for providing logistical support. All the four have been identified, along with addresses. All are from outside Maharashtra. Once we arrest them, we will be able to complete the missing link in the case,’’ the IPS official said.
On the investigators’ search for a prominent leader in Uttar Pradesh, the IPS official said it was unfortunate that the media had blown the matter out of proportion. ‘‘We are tackling this case very carefully. We will not detain any person unless we have adequate evidence against him. Even the sadhvi and army officials were detained after complete homework was done. As far as the Uttar Pradesh leader is concerned, he is associated with a religious group. To ensure that there should be no legal hurdles, we have sought permission from the Nashik court for his interrogation. If he is found involved, we will detain him as per provisions of law,’’ the IPS official said.
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Syria says Israeli warplanes may be the source of alleged uranium traces found in a Syrian site inspected by the UN nuclear watchdog.
"No o (more)
Syria says Israeli warplanes may be the source of alleged uranium traces found in a Syrian site inspected by the UN nuclear watchdog.
"No one has ever asked himself what kind of Israeli bombs had hit the site, and what they contained," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on Wednesday.
The remarks came after a report was circulated by the media alleging that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors had found uranium traces at a Syrian site bombed by Israeli warplanes in September 2007.
Israel has alleged that the site was a reactor under construction with the help of North Korea. Syria has dismissed the allegations and allowed IAEA inspectors to visit the site.
According to the Syrian Minister, Israel possesses bombs which contain depleted uranium. Depleted uranium (DU) is used in armor penetrating weapons. The US has reportedly used DU weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Didn't anyone ask what did the Israeli bombs contain? Didn't anyone pay attention that the United States and Israel have precedents in using ... uranium when bombing, whether in Iraq, south Lebanon or Afghanistan?†Muallem said.
Al-Muallem said reports that traces of uranium had been found in the site is politically motivated.
"These media leaks are a clear signal that the purpose was to pressure Syria. This means that the subject is not technical, but rather political," added al-Muallem at a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari.
The UN nuclear watchdog is preparing a report on the Syrian site.
The Syrian Foreign Minister said Damascus would wait for the report before replying to it.
SB/RE
Source: Press TV
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KANNUR: Police on Thursday unearthed 125 powerful crude bombs from a vacant plot at north Poilur, about 45km from here, in this politically
sensitive district.
The bombs, kept in four gunny bags, were found concealed in a bush at Maliyad Kunnu under the Kolavalloor police station limits by a raiding police party led by Thalassery DySP Prakashan, a senior police official said. Top police officials have rushed to the spot.
Police had intensified raids in the area following the death of two RSS activists in a bomb explosion at nearby Cheruvanchery on Nov 10 as the youth were suspected to have been engaged in either making or shifting the crude bombs.
A day after the death of RSS men on Monday last, Police had recovered 18 crude bombs from a private plot, some 100 metres away from the site of the powerful explosion.
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KANNUR: All 13 accused in a case regarding bomb attack on a house in 2000, in which three members of a family including a six-year old girl were
injured, were found guilty by a local court on Friday.
Additional Sessions Court (Fast Track-3) Judge B Ramakanth found the activists of RSS and BJP guilty and set November 17 as the date for delivering the sentence.
The court found them guilty under various IPC sections including IPC 307 (attempt to murder) and section 3 and 5 of Explosives Substance Act.
However, it dropped charges against sixth accused K Pradeepan following his death in a bomb explosion while allegedly making crude bombs at Cheruvanchery on Monday last.
The court examined 23 witnesses in the case. According to police, the incident occurred during the panchayat polls on September 27, 2000 when a group of activists belonging to BJP and RSS threw a crude bomb while the girl was playing with her brother in front of her uncle's residence at Cheruvanchery.
The activists had thrown the bomb thinking that some congressmen were hiding in the house, a fall out of the dispute between the rival BJP and Congress over electoral malpractices.
Besides the girl, whose right leg had to be amputated, her brother and mother were also injured in the attack.
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The United Nations food distribution centers in the Gaza Strip have been closed as Palestinians struggle with a severe food shortage.
The closure came after a strict Israeli blockade of the coastal strip depleted the United Nations' food reserves, AP reported on Saturday.
Israel toughened its siege on the Gaza Strip nearly two weeks ago.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on Israel to open the borders to allow humanitarian aid to reach the Gazans. In a statement, he said measures that increase the suffering of Gaza's civilians "are unacceptable and should cease immediately."
The UN Relief and Works Agency distributes food to some 750,000 of Gaza residents.
SB/RA
Source: Press TV
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MUMBAI: The Nashik police on Saturday registered a case of cheating and forgery against Lt Col Prasad Purohit, arrested for the Malegaon blast,
for obtaining an arms license in 2005 for a Pune resident using a fake document, said the police.
Pune resident, Shirish Date, lodged a complaint with the Sarkarwada police station alleged that he had paid Purohit Rs 20,000 for obtaining a license for his revolver, the police said. Purohit allegedly submitted documents showing Date was living in the Deolali army camp to obtain the license.
After learning about Purohit's involvement in the blast case, Date decided to check the authenticity of his license and found that fake documents had been submitted.
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CAIRO — Taliban fighters attack convoys carrying supplies to US-led foreign forces, confiscate the shipments and sell them to poor Afghans for meager (more)
CAIRO — Taliban fighters attack convoys carrying supplies to US-led foreign forces, confiscate the shipments and sell them to poor Afghans for meager prices. "We will continue to seize convoys carrying goods for NATO and American troops," Taliban commander Mustafa Kamran Hijrat told the Times in an interview published on Sunday, November 16.
Taliban fighters have mounted several attacks on NATO and American supply convoys crossing from Karachi to Peshawar and through the Khyber Pass.
Last week, they seized two American Humvee trucks and 10 lorries laden with food and grains.
The lorries were driven to local markets where Taliban fighters used loudspeakers to invite locals to buy at knockdown prices.
"We are waging holy war and we shall continue the struggle by every means," said Hijrat.
The Times likened the Taliban strategy to the famous story of Robin Hood, an archetypal figure in English folklore.
Hood, whose story originates from medieval times, is painted as a man known for robbing the rich to give to the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny.
The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks and toppled the ruling Taliban regime.
Taliban has since been engaged in protracted guerrilla warfare against US-led foreign forces and the Kabul government.
A recent report by the Senlis Council think-tank said Taliban has permanent presence in more than half of Afghanistan.
Suspension
Across the border, Pakistan suspended Sunday fuel tankers and food trucks for the foreign forces in Afghanistan.
"We suspended movement of NATO trucks for security reasons," local administration official Bakhtiar Mohammad told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"However arrangements have now been made to provide protection to the containers.
"The container service will resume on Monday."
Local official Rahat Gul said Pakistani troops will escort the supply trucks from Peshawar to the Torkham border.
He said some new checkpoints, to be manned by soldiers, will be established along the route.
Pakistan barred the delivery of sealed containers and oil tankers through the historic Khyber Pass several days ago after Taliban fighters in the rugged lawless area seized 15 trucks destined for Afghanistan last Monday.
Security forces backed by helicopters later recovered the trucks but the fighters had taken goods from some of the vehicles.
Washington and Kabul say Pakistan's tribal belt has became a safe haven for hundreds of militants who fled Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion.
Source: IslamOnline
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November 18, 2008 11:32 IST
Human Rights Watch has slammed the Andhra Pradesh government for the detention and torture of over 100 youths from the Muslim community, who were arrested after a spate of terror attacks in Hyderabad last year.
The state police allegedly detained several youths after the Mecca Masjid and twin blasts -- 21 were later released when no evidence was found against them.
In Hyderabad, terror accused get a second chance
The HRW has asked the state government to prosecute the police officials responsible for the torture of the innocent youths.
On November 13, the Andhra Pradesh government finally admitted that the innocent youths had been tortured and announced compensation of Rs 30,000 for each of them. It also promised additional financial assistance through government loans. However, the state government is yet to initiate criminal proceedings against any of the police officers involved in the torture of the detained youths.
A city torn by terror
Many of the youths, arrested immediately after the twin blasts in Hyderabad, were detained illegally. The Criminal Procedure Code and the Constitution requires a detainee to be produced in court within 24 hours of the arrest. Some of the detainees claim that they were produced before a magistrate after five to 10 days.
Families were not notified of the detention, and were not informed of the whereabouts of their relatives when they inquired at the police stations or lodged missing person reports. In some cases, detainees said, they were taken for interrogations to unknown locations instead of a police station. Some detainees said that they were beaten by the policemen and subjected to 'third degree' methods.
Terror in Hyderabad
In 2007, the Andhra Pradesh Minorities Commission investigated the allegations. After interviewing those charged, while they were awaiting trial in jail, it reported that their injuries were 'not self inflicted, these obviously arose during police custody --custodial atrocities on young detainees stand proved.'
The APMC pointed out that the detainees had not been produced before a magistrate within 24 hours and this "shows how the system has failed to protect the rights of the detainees." The commission said that the detainees bore scars from violence, and some had been subjected to electric shocks.
'Missing' Hyderabad youth in police custody
In February 2008, relatives of victims and human rights activists told a visiting team of investigators from the National Commission for Minorities about the illegal detention and torture of the young Muslims. In its report, the commission noted that it had received complaints about the detainees being subjected to physical and mental torture, and that no lawyers were present during interrogation.
According to the detainees, the police officials often altered the date of their arrest in the official documents before producing them in the court. In its report, the commission expressed concern that the state police had denied all accusations of torture, and noted "action should be taken against those who failed to carry out their responsibilities within the framework of law and established procedures."
Hyderabad blasts: Muslims say they are targetted
However, not a single policeman involved in the detention and torture of the innocent youths have been charged or prosecuted. Andhra Pradesh Minister for Minorities' Welfare, Mohammad Shabbir Ali, who announced the compensation for the victims, said that he does not want to blame the police because they "do their work based on information, and sometimes information can be wrong."
Says Meenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, "Over and over again, the police response to terrible bombings has been to round up people, simply because they happen to be Muslims. This stigmatises and alienates an entire community and makes counter-terrorism efforts even more difficult.
A year on, Hyderabad blast investigation flounders
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Times Of India: 18 Nov 2008, 0100 hrs IST, Nitasha Natu & Mateen Hafeez, TNN
MUMBAI/NASHIK: The anti-terrorism squad investigating the recent Malegaon bomb blasts has recorded the statement of arrested Lt-Col Shrikant
Purohit's colleague Capt Nitin Joshi who reportedly said that Purohit had told him about pilfering RDX.
According to sources, the statement was recorded by a magistrate, which makes it admissible as evidence during the trial. DGP A N Roy told TOI: "Since the statement is not incriminating Joshi himself, it needs to be verified.'' Roy refused to disclose further details about Joshi's background and posting saying he is a witness and not an accused.
Meanwhile, Purohit was on Tuesday handed over to the Pune anti-terrorism squad. Purohit, the alleged mastermind of the Malegaon blast, was produced before chief judicial magistrate H K Gantra in Nashik on Tuesday.
The Pune ATS sought Purohit's custody to investigate a case of forgery and cheating. The ATS said its Pune unit was probing a case of forging documents against Purohit. Arrested on November 5, the 38-year-old officer who was earlier accused of acting as a middleman to collect and distribute money for terrorist activities and also impart training in assembling explosives, was brought to the court amid tight security at 3.45 pm.
Wearing a blue T-shirt and black jeans, Purohit, whose face was covered did not complain about anything when joint civil judge H K Ganatra asked him if he had any complaints against the ATS.
Defence lawyer Avinash Bhide argued that the accused had already been under illegal detention earlier and since the Mumbai ATS had completed its interrogation in connection with the Malegaon blast case, there was no reason to hand him over to the Pune ATS in the same case.
Pointing out that in such a situation, Purohit's police custody would never end, the defence lawyer said that in the absence of the designated court, the interim court should not pass the order of handing the accused to the Pune ATS. Purohit is likely to be produced before a Pune Court on Wednesday. Purohit is accused of attending several meetings where the conspiracy of Malegaon blast is suspected to have been hatched. Moreover, the police said that he was also involved in a Rs 10 lakh hawala transaction and the money was used in the blast.
Another accused in the Malegaon blast, Sameer Kulkarni, who is under judicial custody till November 29 was shifted to the Khadki police station in Pune in connection with a case of assault on a pastor pending against him there.
Alleging violation of human rights during the interrogation of all the accused in the Malegaon Blast case, advocate Vijay Gaikwad moved an application in the Nashik court seeking examination of the case papers. The court will pass an order on his request on Wednesday.
(with inputs from Santosh Sonawane)
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MUMBAI: Sudhakar Chaturvedi, the national coordinator for the Abhinav Bharat organisation, who the police
claim has admitted to his role in
planning the Malegaon blast, is likely to be arrested by the Anti-Terror squad on Thursday.
Chaturvedi (37) was arrested by Matunga police on November 4 on charges of carrying a revolver without licence and possessing a fake ID of Deolali military
cantonment. During narco-analysis on Tuesday in Bangalore, he told forensic experts that he had arranged several meetings of Abhinav Bharat members in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana. The ATS, probing the September 29 Malegaon blast, suspects the blast was planned in these meetings.
Lt-Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit, the alleged mastermind, was on Wednesday subjected to brain mapping and polygraph test at the forensic laboratory in Kalina, Mumbai. The ATS have so far arrested 10 people including Purohit, retired Major Ramesh Upadhay, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Mahant Dayanand Pandey for their alleged role in the Malegaon blast that killed six. The ATS has claimed that Purohit masterminded the blast and procured RDX to assemble the bomb.
"Chaturvedi has admitted that Purohit had given him the revolver and also prepared a fake ID for his entry into the Deolali military cantonment. The ATS submitted an application in Kurla court on Saturday seeking his custody in the blast case,'' said senior inspector Sunil Deshmukh of Matunga police station. Deshmukh said Chaturvedi worked for Abhinav Bharat on a monthly salary of Rs 5,000.
"Chaturvedi's basic job was to arrange meetings and inform all the members about the meeting. He used to raise funds for the organisation too,'' said Deshmukh. Police sources said Chaturvedi had visited the restricted military area in Deolali camp near Nashik several times and was in constant touch with Purohit. It is also learned that Purohit had prepared the fake ID for Chaturvedi in 2005, when he was posted at Deolali as a liaison officer.
Chaturvedi hails from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and migrated to Maharashtra 10 years ago. He had been staying in a rented room in a chawl at Deolali. Police said he was aware of the blast conspiracy and his arrest would lead to details of the case. Chaturvedi had also visited the Bhonsale military school in Nashik to attend a personal development camp. It was there Purohit introduced him to Major Upadhay, now retired. The Matunga police may also booked Purohit in its case of keeping illegal firearms and helping Chaturvedi in preparing the fake military ID.
Purohit is currently in the custody of ATS (Pune unit), in a case of forgery. The Sarkar Wada police station in Nashik had registered a case of forgery and cheating against Purohit last Saturday. Yeshwant Date, who lodged the complaint of forgery, told police that Purohit had submitted fake documents to get an arm license for him. Date said he didn't know then that Purohit was cheating him.
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