Malegaon blasts: Lens on Hindu, Muslim radicals

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: TheNationalInvestigation Agency (NIA), probing the 2006 Malegaon serial blast cases, may take Abrar Ahmed to Indore and other places to verify if he met some Hindu sadhus and other right wing radicalleaders.
Abrar was earlier arrested for the blasts and has also been named asoneof thebomb planters. He was made approver in the explosion cases. In 2009, he filed an affidavit before the special MCOCA court stating his statement was taken under duress. In his affidavit, Ahmed also stated that he met a few men wholookedlikesadhus.
In 2010, right wing leader, SwamiAseemanand,confessed that his boys had engineered the blasts. After this, the nine Muslim accused including Ahmed were given bail. The NIA now wants to confirm whether some Muslims were hired by the rightwing peoplefor recee.


The Times of India, January 12, 2013

Hope for 9 accused in 2006 Malegaon blasts

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai:The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is soon likely to seek dismissal of charges against the nine men arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in connection with the 2006 Malegaon serial blasts, an officer said.

Handed the blast case in January 2011, the NIA has recently arrested four individuals—Dhan Singh, Lokesh Sharma, Manohar Singh and Rajendra Chaudhary—all alleged to be members of ultraright-wing Hindu groups. According to sources in the agency, Chaudhary, Dhan Singh, Manohar Singh and one Ramji Kalsangra planted the four explosives in Malegaon on September 8, 2006, that killed 37 people and injured another 297.

The recent discoveries of the NIA deflate the earlier claims of the ATS. “There cannot be two sets of accused for one crime,” said an NIA officer. “We have arrested four persons and are now probing a larger conspiracy.” Another NIA officer hinted that the agency is preparing to ask court to dismiss the charges (under section 169 of CrPC) made by the ATS against nine people.

In 2006, the ATS had arrested nine men of the minority community, claiming they were members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and had a hand in the Malegaon serial blasts. It filed a chargesheet in the case in 54 days, though it could take 180 days. According to it, SIMI members engineered and executed the bombings, with the help of a Pakistani national named Muzammil, to spark “communal riots” in the state.

As it happened, the Maharashtra government transferred the case to the CBI, but the central agency’s first supplementary chargesheet too made assertions similar to the state ATS’. In January 2011, when another CBI team began probing the blasts, it discovered the alleged involvement of radical Hindu nationalist groups. In April 2011, the Union home ministry eventually transferred the case to the NIA.

According to NIA sources, the decision to bomb Malegaon in 2006 was taken by senior functionaries in the group, including former RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi, Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange. Thereafter, Kalsangra and Sharma were tasked with executing the bombings. It was these two who arranged for Chaudhary, Dhan Singh and Manohar Singh.

The team first recced Malegaon to identify targets. On September 8, Sharma drove the team members to Malegaon, where Kalsangra gave them explosives and clothes to make them resemble religious Muslims. Kalsangra accompanied Dhan Singh, Manohar Singh and Chaudhary to place the bombs on bicycles and at other spots near Hamidia mosque at Bada Kabristan, where many people had gathered on the occasion of Shab-e-Baraat. Once the bombs were planted, Sharma drove the team back to Indore. CHANGE IN

COURSECARNAGE | On Sept 8, 2006, four explosives went off in Malegaon, killing 37 and injuring 297. The bombs contained RDX, ammonium nitrate, nitrite and oil fuel

ACCUSED

Noor-ul-Huda (24) | Shabbir Masiullah (34) | Raees Rajjab Ali (35) | Dr Salman Farsi (40) | Dr Farogh Makhdoomi (40) | Mohd Ali Shaikh* (45) | Asif Bashir Khan* (40) | Zahid Majeed (35) | Abrar Ahmed Saeed (35)

* Facing trial in 11/7 train blasts case too

SEVERAL PROBES
Malegaon police started an investigation, but a week later the case was transferred to the ATS

Nine Muslim youths, seven from Malegaon, were arrested and accused of being SIMI
members

Taking 54 days, ATS filed a 4,500-page chargesheet on Dec 21, 2006. Case was handed to the CBI

In Jan 2011, another CBI team sought permission to investigate
Case was transferred to the NIA in Jan 2011

MCOCA court granted bail to the nine accused men in Nov 2011

TURNING POINT An accused in the Mecca Masjid blast case, Swami Aseemanand, confessed in Dec 2010 that his accomplices executed the 2006 and 2008 Malegaon blasts. This upended the CBI probe until then and made it focus on ultra-right-wing Hindu groups. The Centre transferred the case to NIA

ATS CLAIMS IN 2006

The RDX for the bombs came from Pakistan and a Pakistani national, Muzammil, assembled them in Malegaon

A bomb each was planted by Huda, Raees Ali and Abrar

Majeed, an imam, travelled from Yavatmal, planted a bomb, and left for his hometown the same day. (About 250 Yavatmal residents filed affidavits, saying Majeed was in their town)

Masiullah, a battery shop owner, was part of the conspiracy. (At the time of the blasts, he was in police custody in another case)

NIA CLAIMS IN 2012

The RDX was procured in India. The explosives were allegedly planted by Dhan Singh, Rajender Chaudhary, Ramji Kalsangra and Manohar Singh. Dhan Singh was earlier arrested for being a bomb planter in the Samjhauta and Malegaon 2008 attacks

Another Samjhauta blast accused, Lokesh Sharma, provided logistical support

The blasts were ‘green-lighted’ by former RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi, Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange and others. The execution was entrusted to Kalsangra and Sharma

Chaudhary, Dhan Singh and Manohar Singh recced Malegaon to identify the targets


The Times of India, January 7, 2013

One more arrested for 2006 Malegaon serial blasts

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested right wing group member, Lokesh Sharma, for the 2006 Malegaon serial bombings.

Sharma, suspected to have done a recce of Malegaon along with accomplices Dhan Singh, Manohar Singh and Rajendra Chaudhary, was taken into custody from a jail. He was first arrested in 2011 for the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts. So far, the NIA has arrested Dhan Singh, Manohar,
Rajendra and Sharma for the September 8, 2006 serial blasts that killed 37 in Malegaon.

Earlier, the Maharashtra ATS led by the then joint commissioner K P Raghuvanshi and DIG S K Jaiswal, had arrested nine Muslim youth stating that they had engineered the blasts. However the Malegaon residents said the ATS story was concocted and Muslim boys were not involved. Later the case was handed over to NIA, which arrested saffron brigade members.

The NIA is now looking for accused Sandeep Dange, Ramji Kalsangra and four others in the 2006 Malegaon blast cases.




The Times of India, January, 6, 2012

Malegaon to get electricity on cheaper rate

Mumbai: After a four-month long protest by the residents and power loom owners in Malegaon, the state government agreed to reduce the electricity charges in Malegaon. A decision on supplying electricity for Rs 1.80 per unit will be taken and announced in January next year, said Rajesh Tope, state Energy minister.

The residents of Malegaon have been paying the electricity bills untill last month but protested against the increased rates of the electricity. The rate of electricity was increased 12 times in the last three years.

In the Nagpur session of the state government, chief minister Prithivraj Chavan and Tope on December 21 announced that a decision on supplying electricity for Rs 1.80 per unit will be taken in January next year and subsequently announced by the state. The residents of Malegaon have welcomed this move.

Malegaon 1st to net man behind doctored clips

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
MUMBAI: The first arrest in connection with the doctoring of audio-visual clips of alleged atrocities in Myanmar actually came from Malegaon. An 18-year-old youth, Khalid Shaikh, was picked up in the matter long before arrests took place in Pune and Nashik.

Additional superintendent of police Sunil Kadasne said his team began monitoring cellphone users as soon as the video clips began circulating. "We asked the teams to look for people with provocative clips on their cellphones. During our surveillance, we received information that Shaikh, a scrap dealer, had got a video of the killings in Assam and Myanmar. We traced his location and seized his cellphone," said Kadasne.

He added that Shaikh had got the clipping from an auto driver. Shaikh, a Class XII passout, was sent to police custody for two days.

In Nashik, the Panchvati police on Friday said they would be seeking extension of police custody of Kiran Pankar (22), who had allegedly uploaded provocative posts on a social networking website on August 13. Pankar was arrested last week for sharing a photo with provocative text on it on the website. Pankar, an HSC dropout, is a master in editing photos using a popular software and used to work as a graphic designer with an advertising firm in Panchvati. Cops said Pankar manipulated the picture, which was uploaded by someone else, by adding provocative words to it and then uploaded it from his account. Pankar was in touch with 517 people on the website, cops said, and the picture got circulated and noticed by the Mumbai police.

Last week, the cyber crime cell of the Pune police questioned three suspects in connection with the provocative SMSs and doctored MMS clips that have been doing the rounds in the backdrop of the violence in Assam and Myanmar. The three have been identified as Imran Irfan Khan (39), Arif Munavar Khan (47) and Sarfaraj Mohammed Iqbal Shaikh (32). Cops have also identified others in connection with the matter, and have made some arrests in the past three days.


The Times of India, August 27, 2012

Malegaon scamster cheat investors of Rs seven crore

Maten Hafeez I TNN
MUMBAI: The Malegaon police are probing a case of cheating wherein the accused lured unsuspecting inventors to fund his business and in return promised a 30 per cent return on the investments. The role of police in this case was criticized for allegedly harassing the victims and delaying the FIR. The initial reports say the fraud amount is Rs seven crore but could go upto Rs 40 crore.


The Azad Nagar police in the textile town Malegaon registered a cheating case against three persons; Shahzad Shaikh, Shahbaz Shaikh and Abrar Ahmed Abdul Aziz. Shahzad has been said to be the kingpin of this fraud. Police sources said that a businessman, Abdul Majid, lodged the complaint. Sources said that Shahzad, who pretended to be a Saree businessman, would buy Sarees from Malegaon weavers and sell it in other cities. "Initially, he gave huge profit and in some cases, the investors were given double profit. Shahzad asked businessmen in the city to invest in his business to expand the network. Many people who had no weaving or Saree selling background also joined hands thinking huge profit," said one of the victims.


"While Shahzad gave money or returns initially, he stopped making payments saying he had not got the money from the buyers. It continued for several months and then people began approaching the police. However, the police role was suspicious. There were allegations of money changing hands. "Most of the victims were treated as accused and thoroughly interrogated. Instead, had the police shown interest in nabbing the accused and interrogating him, victims must have got their money back by now," said a victim.


Shahzad was also summoned to the police station but never arrested. Now, the police have registered the case, the accused is on the run," said another investor, who lost several lakhs. The office bearer of a socio-religious organization is suspected to have lost over Rs two crore in this fraud. A well known spice trader family in Malegaon is learnt to have lost over Rs five crore.


Pravin Padwal, superintendent of police, Nasik (rural), said that the police had just registered the case and was trying to locate Shahzad. "Once we arrest him, we will be able to find out what he did with the money," said Padwal. When asked whether the accused would be booked under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, Padwal said the police will first verify if it was a fit case for the accused. "No victim contacted me. We registered the case soon after some people came to me," he said. However, it is learnt that a group of victims had to approach the state government to get one case registered. When asked whether police will attach Shahzad's properties, if any, or freez bank accounts, Padwal said," I have not been told about his properties or bank account details yet."


The Times of India, June 29, 2012

Malegaon blasts suspects lost corporation election

Mateen Hafeez MUMBAI: Three suspects in the 2006 Malegaon serial bomb blasts, who are currently out on bail, contested the Malegaon corporation elections but all of them lost. The municipal corporation comprises of 80 members. All three accused contested the April 16, 2012 election on Samajwadi Party ticket. The party had fielded 33 candidates in the election. The suspects include Shabbir Masiullah, Dr Salman Farsi and Zahid Abdul Majeed. Moreover, Farsi's wife Nafeesa, a Unani doctor, has also submitted her nomination papers on the SP ticket. While Masiullah and Farsi were shown as conspirators in the serial bomb blasts cases, Majeed was termed a bomb planter. April 20, 2012