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NEW DELHI: (AMN) Sangh Parivar is likely to face more trouble in coming days as the Rajasthan Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) probing the Ajmer Dargah blasts has found link and similar modus operandi in Samjhouta express blasts.
Twin blasts shook two coaches of the Samjhauta Express running between India and Pakistan on February 18 2007, shortly after the train had passed through the railway station in the village of Diwana, near Panipat, 80 kilometres north of New Delhi. 68 people were killed in the ensuing fire and dozens more were injured. Most of those killed were Pakistani civilians. Victims included some Indian civilians and Indian military personnel guarding the train.
According to Indian Express the chargesheet in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blasts clearly establishes a link between the group responsible for the Ajmer conspiracy and the Samjhauta Express blast on February 19, 2007, which left 68 dead.
It mentions that the materials and equipment used in both cases were similar and sourced from areas around Indore in Madhya Pradesh. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the Samjhauta Express blast has already questioned those in ATS custody several times in the past few months.
The ATS chargesheet reads, “It is worth mentioning that the evidence gathered in the aftermath of the Samjhauta Express blast on February 19, 2007, is similar to the materials and equipment used in the Ajmer Dargah blast as well as the modus operandi. One can infer from this that the Samjhauta Express blast could be the handiwork of the same terrorist outfit responsible for the Ajmer Dargah blast.”
Interestingly the Ajmer blast chargesheet also mentions that those arrested in connection with the case were from Indore and surrounding areas, to where the materials used in the Samjhauta blast have been traced.
A senior ATS official told the paper that the similarities were too strong to ignore. “From our investigations into the Ajmer blast and the probe into the Samjhauta incident, we found that the bombs used in the two incidents were similar in all manner and make except for the timer device used. This we believe was done on purpose to serve as a red herring,” he said.
NIA officials have also confirmed that they had visited Rajasthan several times since the first arrest (Devendra Gupta) in the Ajmer case on April 29, 2010. A senior official, though tight-lipped about the probe, said: “There seem to be some similarities in the two cases and we have questioned those accused in the Ajmer blast case in this regard.” According to the ATS, of the six accused in the Ajmer case, five hail from Indore and surrounding areas, except Gupta, who is from Ajmer. While Lokesh Sharma, the alleged main supplier of materials; Sandeep Dange, the suspected bomb maker; and Ramji Kalsangra, another “bomb maker”, are all from Indore; Sunil Joshi, believed to be the brains behind the plot and Chandrashekhar Leve, a courier, hail from Dewas and Shajapur in MP, which are 45 km and 120 km from Indore respectively.