PANCHKULA/NEW DELHI: Radical Hindu sadhu Aseemanand on Saturday stuck to his confession that Hindutva radicals were behind the bomb attack on the SamjhautaExpress in 2007.
In a statement before a Panchkula magistrate, Aseemanand, aka Naba Kumar Sarkar, named absconding Hindutva militants Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange as the key plotters in the terror attack.
The statement recorded under 164 Cr PC by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Samjhauta blast has evidentiary value. It disproves the allegation levelled by Aseemanand's lawyer Manvir Rathee that his first "confession" had actually been extracted from him under duress.
Sources in the NIA said the confession on Saturday practically rules out the involvement of other groups.
Initial investigation into the attack had also looked into the possibility of involvement of jehadi groups, with the US even naming Arif Qasmani -- a rich Pakistani citizen linked with terror groups -- as one of the plotters.
Aseemanand has been arrested for bomb attacks that Hindutva radicals carried out on mosques to retaliate against the spate of jehadi terror strikes by Indian Mujahideen and other Islamic groups as part of what he calls "Bomb-for Bomb" plan.
Aseemanand first spoke of the involvement of Hindutva hardliners in the Samjhauta attack in the confession he made before a Delhi magistrate in December. The confession on December 18 was recorded by the CBI in connection with its probe into the Malegaon blast in 2008.
The attack on the Samjhauta Express killed 68 persons, mostly Pakistani citizens returning home after visiting their Indian relatives.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Aseemanand-sticks-to-Hindutva-p...
PANCHKULA/NEW DELHI: Radical Hindu sadhu Aseemanand on Saturday stuck to his confession that Hindutva radicals were behind the bomb attack on the SamjhautaExpress in 2007.
In a statement before a Panchkula magistrate, Aseemanand, aka Naba Kumar Sarkar, named absconding Hindutva militants Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange as the key plotters in the terror attack.
The statement recorded under 164 Cr PC by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Samjhauta blast has evidentiary value. It disproves the allegation levelled by Aseemanand's lawyer Manvir Rathee that his first "confession" had actually been extracted from him under duress.
Sources in the NIA said the confession on Saturday practically rules out the involvement of other groups.
Initial investigation into the attack had also looked into the possibility of involvement of jehadi groups, with the US even naming Arif Qasmani -- a rich Pakistani citizen linked with terror groups -- as one of the plotters.
Aseemanand has been arrested for bomb attacks that Hindutva radicals carried out on mosques to retaliate against the spate of jehadi terror strikes by Indian Mujahideen and other Islamic groups as part of what he calls "Bomb-for Bomb" plan.
Aseemanand first spoke of the involvement of Hindutva hardliners in the Samjhauta attack in the confession he made before a Delhi magistrate in December. The confession on December 18 was recorded by the CBI in connection with its probe into the Malegaon blast in 2008.
The attack on the Samjhauta Express killed 68 persons, mostly Pakistani citizens returning home after visiting their Indian relatives.
Read more: Aseemanand sticks to Hindutva plotters' hand in Samjhauta blast - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Aseemanand-sticks-to-Hindutva-p...