Rajasthan cops take Aseemanand to Ajmer for blast probe
By IANSSaturday, January 22, 2011
CHANDIGARH - Swami Aseemanand, a radical Hindu activist, was taken into custody by Rajasthan Police here Saturday to probe his role in the 2007 blast in the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer that killed three people.
The chief judicial magistrate of Ajmer Jan 18 issued a warrant for presentation of Aseemanand in the court in Rajasthan. Aseemanand was taken to Ajmer by sleuths of the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police.
He was lodged at Ambala jail, around 35 km from here, since Jan 13 in connection with the 2007 Samjhauta Express blasts in Haryana’s Panipat town. He also recorded his statement, pertaining to this case, before the chief judicial magistrate here Jan 15.
Aseemanand, a member of the right-wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat, was brought here from Hyderabad Dec 23 last year, by the National Investigation Agency for his alleged involvement in the Samjhauta Express bombing.
The bombing, which killed 68 people, took place in two bogies of the Samjhauta Express, a peace train between India and Pakistan. A majority of the 68 victims were Pakistani nationals.
He is also an accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in which 14 people were killed.
Aseemanand was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Nov 19 last year from Haridwar in Uttarakhand for his alleged role in the Mecca Masjid blast.
Aseemanand hails from Hooghly district in West Bengal and is a post-graduate in botany. In 2001, he took up the issue of conversions in tribal areas and started re-converting people. He also ran the Shabari Dham Ashram and has a long list of followers, many of whom have been quizzed by the CBI.
