NIA Fails to Prove Revenge for Temple Attacks Theory
File photo
AGENCIES / Panchkula
A special court today acquitted former RSS activist Swami Aseemanand and three others in the Samjhauta train blast case. The verdict came after NIA special judge Jagdeep Singh dismissed the plea filed by a Pakistani woman for examining eyewitnesses from her country, saying it was devoid of any merit.
The blast on the Pakistan-bound train near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, had ripped apart two coaches, killing 68, mostly Pakistani nationals.
Apart from Aseemanand, the others acquitted are Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary. Aseemanand, who was charged in three terror attack cases a decade ago, was accused of providing logistic support to the persons who carried out the blasts.
NIA, which had taken over the probe in the case in 2010, had said that the accused were upset with the terror attacks on Hindu temples – Akshardham (Gujarat), Raghunath Mandir (Jammu) and Sankat Mochan Mandir (Varanasi) – and conspired to trigger the blast in the Pakistan-bound train to avenge the spate of attacks on various temples.
The accused had conspired and propounded a theory of “bomb ka badla bomb”, the NIA had said in its chargesheet.
But the special court ruled that the investigative agency had failed to prove its charges.
The alleged mastermind of the attack, Sunil Joshi, was shot dead near his home in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district in December 2007, while three other accused — Ramchandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange and Amit could never be apprehended and were declared proclaimed offenders.