Malegaon to Malegaon: The status of Hindu right-wing terror cases
The acquittal of former RSS member Asseemanand and six others on
Wednesday in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blasts has returned focus to Hindu
right-wing terror cases.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was in charge of probing seven such cases, three of which have concluded at the trail court level. Here’s a status check by HT:
Malegaon blasts (2006)
CASE: Four explosions took place outside a mosque on September 8, 2006, killing 38 people.
PROBE: The Maharashtra ATS and CBI chargesheeted nine Muslims. The NIA, which took over the case in 2011, filed another chargesheet naming four alleged Hindu extremists. The special court hearing the case discharged all the Muslim accused arrested by state ATS.
STATUS: Trial yet to begin.
Samjhauta Express blasts (2007)
CASE: Explosions occurred near Dewana
railway station in Haryana’s Panipat district, killing 68 people, mostly
from Pakistan, on the night of February 18. The train was on its way to
Lahore from Delhi.
PROBE: The NIA has filed chargesheet against eight people, of whom one is dead and two are at large.
STATUS: Trial is on.
Hyderabad Mecca Masjid blast (2007)
CASE: A powerful IED blast in Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid area of Hyderabad on May 18, killed 14 people.
PROBE: The Hyderabad police rounded up dozens of Muslims but could not get any breakthrough.The case was then handed over to the CBI, which arrested Aseemanad, an accused in the Samjhauta train blasts case also. The first chargesheet was filed by the CBI, then the case was handed over to the NIA.
STATUS: Trial is on.
CASE: A tiffin bomb exploded on October 11 during Ramzan at the Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah in Ajmer, killing three people and injuring 12. Later, three more bombs were recovered from the premises.
PROBE: Of 13 accused, three are absconding and one -- Sunil Joshi -- is dead.
STATUS: A Jaipur court on March 8 convicted three persons -- Joshi, Devendra Gupta and Bhavesh Patel -- but let off former RSS member Aseemanand and six others.
Sunil Joshi murder (2007)
CASE: Sunil Joshi, the leader of an alleged Hindu extremist group believed to be behind most of the right-wing Hindu terror cases, was shot dead on December 29, 2007 when he was walking back to his hideout at Chuna Khadan locality in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. The group included Pragya Singh Thakur, Lokesh Sharma, Sandeep Dange, Ramji Kalsangra, Rajendra Pehelwan, Dhan Singh, Amit Chauhan and Aseemanand.
PROBE: After completing the investigation, the NIA handed over the case to the Madhya Pradesh police saying it had not found any evidence to suggest that his murder was linked to the larger Hindu terror conspiracy. The agency alleged that Joshi was killed by his own men as they were unhappy over his ‘misbehaviour’ with Pragya Singh Thakur.
STATUS: Trial ended on February 1, 2017. All eight accused, including Pragya Singh Thakur, acquitted.
Malegaon and Modasa blasts (2008)
CASE: Twin explosions took place in Malegaon
(Maharashtra) and Modasa (Gujarat) on September 29. Improvised
explosive devices (IEDs) mounted on motorcycles were planted at both
locations, killing a total of eight persons.
PROBE: The Maharashtra ATS claimed to crack the Malegaon case. Pragya Singh Thakur, along with a serving army official, Prasad Srikant Purohit were arrested and chargesheeted in the case.
STATUS: The NIA dropped charges against Pragya Singh Thakur and the special court is yet to take a call on it. The Modasa blast case was closed by the NIA citing lack of evidence.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was in charge of probing seven such cases, three of which have concluded at the trail court level. Here’s a status check by HT:
Malegaon blasts (2006)
Four blasts took place outside a mosque in Malegaon in September 2006, killing 38 people.
(HT file photo)
PROBE: The Maharashtra ATS and CBI chargesheeted nine Muslims. The NIA, which took over the case in 2011, filed another chargesheet naming four alleged Hindu extremists. The special court hearing the case discharged all the Muslim accused arrested by state ATS.
STATUS: Trial yet to begin.
Samjhauta Express blasts (2007)
Powerful
bombs ripped through two compartments of the Samjhauta Express train,
the rail link between India and Pakistan, during the intervening night
of February 18 and 19, killing 68 people.
(HT file photo)
PROBE: The NIA has filed chargesheet against eight people, of whom one is dead and two are at large.
STATUS: Trial is on.
Hyderabad Mecca Masjid blast (2007)
CASE: A powerful IED blast in Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid area of Hyderabad on May 18, killed 14 people.
PROBE: The Hyderabad police rounded up dozens of Muslims but could not get any breakthrough.The case was then handed over to the CBI, which arrested Aseemanad, an accused in the Samjhauta train blasts case also. The first chargesheet was filed by the CBI, then the case was handed over to the NIA.
STATUS: Trial is on.
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CASE: A tiffin bomb exploded on October 11 during Ramzan at the Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah in Ajmer, killing three people and injuring 12. Later, three more bombs were recovered from the premises.
PROBE: Of 13 accused, three are absconding and one -- Sunil Joshi -- is dead.
STATUS: A Jaipur court on March 8 convicted three persons -- Joshi, Devendra Gupta and Bhavesh Patel -- but let off former RSS member Aseemanand and six others.
Sunil Joshi murder (2007)
CASE: Sunil Joshi, the leader of an alleged Hindu extremist group believed to be behind most of the right-wing Hindu terror cases, was shot dead on December 29, 2007 when he was walking back to his hideout at Chuna Khadan locality in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. The group included Pragya Singh Thakur, Lokesh Sharma, Sandeep Dange, Ramji Kalsangra, Rajendra Pehelwan, Dhan Singh, Amit Chauhan and Aseemanand.
PROBE: After completing the investigation, the NIA handed over the case to the Madhya Pradesh police saying it had not found any evidence to suggest that his murder was linked to the larger Hindu terror conspiracy. The agency alleged that Joshi was killed by his own men as they were unhappy over his ‘misbehaviour’ with Pragya Singh Thakur.
STATUS: Trial ended on February 1, 2017. All eight accused, including Pragya Singh Thakur, acquitted.
Malegaon and Modasa blasts (2008)
A blast in Malegaon in September 2008 killed six persons.
(HT file photo)
PROBE: The Maharashtra ATS claimed to crack the Malegaon case. Pragya Singh Thakur, along with a serving army official, Prasad Srikant Purohit were arrested and chargesheeted in the case.
STATUS: The NIA dropped charges against Pragya Singh Thakur and the special court is yet to take a call on it. The Modasa blast case was closed by the NIA citing lack of evidence.
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