9 accused get NIA clean chit

Malegaon 2006 blasts


Rebecca Samervel TNN

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) did not oppose the discharge pleas filed by nine accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case, in its reply filed before the special court on Thursday.

“It is submitted that the evidence collected by the NIA in further investigations is not in consonance with the evidence collected earlier by the ATS and the CBI. No evidence was found in support of the conclusion drawn in the final report filed by the ATS and a supplementary final report submitted by CBI recommending prosecution of …nine accused,” the reply stated. The court will pass
orders on the discharge applications on September 7. While two accused—Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh and Asif Khan—are also facing trial in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, the rest are out on bail.

On November 5, 2011, all nine were granted bail by special judge Yatin Shinde after the NIA did not oppose it. The state ATS had nabbed them claiming that they belonged to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India and aided a Pakistani national in executing the strike. The NIA took over the probe after Swami Aseemanand’s confession that a right-wing group was behind the blasts.


’06 MALEGAON BLASTS CASE
On September 8, 2006, three bombs go off as people gather at a cemetery for prayers. Another blast takes place at a residential area nearby

Explosions kill 31 and injure 297. ATS probes the case followed by CBI

Both agencies accuse nine persons—Noor-ul-Huda, Shabbir Masiullah, Raees Ahmed Ali, Salman Farsi, Farog Makhdoomi, Mohammed Ali,

Asif Bashir Khan, Zahid Majeed and Abrar Ahmed Saeed—of the blasts


The Times of India, August 30, 2013

`Express Post Service’ started at Malegaon post office

Malegaon: To compete the private angariyas and courier firms, the Malegoan head post office on Saturday announced to start Express post service that will help consumers in sending their stuff, parcels, money order, documents and other belongings through government officials. B S Lingayat, head post superintendent said that similarly stuff sent from anywhere in the country/world to anyone in Malegaon will be delivered to the recipient in the minimal time.

Moreover, a railway ticket booking counter has also been started at Malegaon head post office. “The ticket counter facility is helping hundreds of citizens on a daily basis. We will bring changes and make our system more sophisticated to provide the latest facilities to our customers,” said Mohammed Ishaque Abdul Aziz, a post master.


Saturday July 27, 2013

5 Malegaon blasts accused file discharge plea

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Five Muslim youth, who spent five-and-a-half years in prison for the 2006 Malegaon bombings, on Friday filed a discharge application before the special MCOCA court. The accused, all on bail, stated that the state ATS has falsely implicated them in the cases.

Advocate Shareef Shaikh, who is representing the accused, filed a discharge application stating that Noor-ul-Huda, Shabbir Masiullah, Raees Rajjab Ali, Zahid Majeed and Abrar Ahmed be discharged from the serial bombing cases.

Citing NIA’s supplementary chargesheet, the application stated, “Baburao Mukhtaji Joshi, in his statement to NIA, said that on October 11, 2006, Huda was taken for narco analysis test to Bangalore, but the police team returned without conducting a narco test.” Two days later, a senior Malegaon police officer asked Joshi to take Huda to Bangalore for narco test. Joshi told NIA that Subodh Jaiswal, additional commissioner of police (ATS) was already present at Bangalore’s FSL, even before they reached. Quoting Joshi from NIA’s report, the application said that when Huda was taken into the laboratory, Jaiswal was present in the lab too, and that Huda’s statement was edited in the lab. “Dr Malini who conducted the test has been suspended since she was practicing on a bogus certificate,” the application said.

The Times of India, July 20, 2013

Chargesheet by NIA illegal, says accused

MALEGAON BLASTS

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The discharge applications filed by two accused in the 2006 Malegaon mosque blasts case was on Saturday opposed by a co-accused, Dhan Singh, who has also challenged the legality of a chargesheet filed against him and three others.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on May 22 filed a chargesheet against four persons suspected to be belonging to a right wing outfit, blaming them to be the engineers of Malegaon serial blasts that killed 31.

While moving the application before the designated judge Y D Shinde, Singh stated that the ‘further investigation’ done by NIA is illegal and bad in law. The NIA is likely to file its reply on July 22.

Shinde terror remark: A trial court has given a last opportunity to a person to file an affidavit to show why he wants the court to summon PM Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi as witnesses in his complaint against Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for his alleged “Hindu terror” remarks made at Jaipur early this year. TNN

The Times of India, June 30, 2013

PIL seeks info on top police officers

MALEGAON BLASTS

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Muslim-e-Hind, an NGO, filed a PIL in the Bombay high court seeking a first information report, arrest and suspension of several police officers who were directly or indirectly involved in the investigation of 2006 Malegaon serial blasts. The
NGO said that the ATS had falsely implicated nine Muslim youths where as the Hindu hardliners were involved in the blasts.

The PIL has named the then ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi, the then DIG Subodh Kumar Jaiswal and the then Nasik rural SP, Rajvardhan Sinha and urged the HC to instruct the state to set up an SIT to investigate these officers.

The PIL was filed on June 18 and will be heard on June 26. Malegaon residents had raised doubts about the ATS theory that the local youths were responsible for the September 2006 blasts.


The Times of India, June 25, 2013

Code names used during terror training

MALEGAON BLASTS

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Rajendra Chaudhary, a bomb planter in the 2006 Malegaon serial blasts, said all the youths who attended a terror training camp in Madhya Pradesh in January 2006 were given code names by mastermind Sunil Joshi to hide their identities.

In its chargesheet, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) stated that the terror training camp was organized by RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi (murdered in 2007). “Joshi gave me a new name as Samundar. Another participant Kamal Chaowhan was given the coded name of Vijay, Lokesh Sharma was called Ajay, and Joshi himself was called Manoj. This was to hide our identity,” Chaudhary said in his statement.

Chaudhary and three others are behind the bars for their involvement in the 2006 Malegaon blasts.
“We would discuss the atrocities on Hindus by Pakistani Muslims and planned to target Muslims’ places of worship, their institutes, religious processions etc. We took pledge to take revenge,” Chaudhary added.

Dhan Singh — another arrested accused — said they were shown a movie, Black Friday, based on 1993 Mumbai riots and blasts, as part of indoctrination process. “I used to attend my village’s RSS shakha since 2002 where I came in touch with Sunil Joshi. Our only motto was revenge and attack on Muslims,” Singh said.

Singh said that in 2008, on the instructions of wanted accused Ramchandra Kalsangara, he along with one Dinesh had taken a motorcycle to Sendhwa in MP. NIA suspects that the same bike was used in planting bombs in Malegaon in 2008.


The Times of India, June 23, 2013

Malegaon blasts key man was in Mumbai cops’ custody: NIA

Hindu Terrorist Claimed Role In Attack But Was Ignored: Agency

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai:The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has debunked the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad theory on the 2006 Malegaon blasts and said that the prime conspirator, Shabbir Masiullah, was taken into custody by the Mumbai crime branch before the blasts occurred.

The NIA also said that Zahid Majeed, whom the ATS had named as one of the accused who planted the bombs, was not present on the spot but was in Yavatmal during the time of the blasts.

The ATS had arrested nine Muslim youths for planting the bombs and charged them under attempt to murder, and invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). While seven of the nine men were released on bail after serving over five years in prison, two are still incarcerated as they are accused in the 7/11 Mumbai local train blasts as well.

In its chargesheet, the NIA said its investigations showed that the entire conspiracy was hatched and carried out by Hindu terror operatives. It said the four bombs used to kill 31 people were assembled at Sarvasampann Nagar in Indore and transported to Malegaon in state buses by Manohar Narwaria, Ramchandra Kalsangara, Dhan Singh and Rajendra Chaudhary. Of the four, Kalsangara alias Badal Yadav is absconding.

The NIA, however, has not invoked MCOCA against the Hindu terror operatives, making it easy for the accused to get bail. The NIA said Manohar Narwaria alias Sumer Thakur, Chaudhary, Dhan Singh and Lokesh Sharma along with Kalsangara, Sandeep Dange and Amit Hakla had done a reconnaissance of Malegaon thrice.

“They were making preparatory acts to commit terror acts by arranging and imparting training in operating fire arms and assembling bombs at Bagli, Devas (MP), in 2006 to a group of persons, to commit terror acts at various Muslim religious places in India,” the chargesheet said.

The NIA said the bombs were manufactured by Kalsangara, Dhan Singh, Sharma and Hakla during June and July 2006. “The third recce of Malegaon was done on September 1, 2006, the spot was finalized and the accused decided to plant four bombs. A day before the blasts, Kalsangara, Singh, Narwaria and Chaudhry started from Indore with bombs in state transport buses and reached Malegaon next morning. Four bombs were kept in two metallic boxes covered in two bags,” the chargesheet said.

The agency further said that in Malegaon, Narwaria and Chaudhary bought bicycles in the name of Sumer Thakur and Badal Yadav, respectively. “The bombs were fitted into the cycles at the bus station,” it said.

The NIA said that Narwaria and Kalsangara planted bombs at the Muslim cemetery while Chaudhary and Singh went to Mushawerat chowk with the bomb-laden cycle. After planting the bombs, they boarded a bus to Jalgaon and then to Indore.

In the meantime, Sharma went to Paharganj and made phone calls to some media houses, claiming the blasts were the handiwork of Dharmasena. But he did not get any response, the NIA said.



The Times of India, June 22, 2013

Sadhvi, Aseemanand not named in Malegaon blasts

NIA Charges Four Right-Wingers, ATS Accused Not In Chargesheet

Mateen Hafeez TNN


Four persons linked to ultra right-wing groups were chargesheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday for their alleged role in the 2006 Malegaon blasts that killed 31 people. But the names of suspects Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Swami Aseemanand are missing from the chargesheet. An official said they don’t have “prosecutable evidence” against them till now.

Rajendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh and Manohar Singh have been accused of planting the bombs. Lokesh Sharma has been charged with conspiracy and providing logistical support. NIA sources said the bombs were made of locally sourced RDX in another town and brought to Malegaon.

Three persons — Ramchandra Kalsangra alias Ramji, Sandeep Dange and Amit Hakla — are wanted in the case. The five-volume chargesheet has contradicted the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) theory that 13 Muslim youths were responsible for the blasts near mosques on September 8.

The right-wing role in the Malegaon bombings — in 2006 and later in 2008 — came out after former RSS activist Aseemanand’s confession before a court in Delhi. There was outrage over the ATS investigation after the confession and the Union home ministry asked the NIA to take over the case in 2011.

The NIA has not mentioned any role of the youths described as planters by the ATS in its 4,500-page chargesheet earlier. The ATS had said that the Muslim youths engineered the blasts because they wanted to trigger communal riots. It had showed a Pakistani, Muzammil, as the bomb-maker. The Malegaon youths languished in jail for five and a half years before they were granted bail in November 2011.

In December 2012, the NIA arrested Lokesh Chaudhary, Dhan Singh and Manohar Singh, all residents of Indore in Madhya Pradesh. “Further investigation showed Rajendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh, Manohar and Kalsangra had planted the four bombs,” said a senior NIA officer. “Our chargesheet is based on prosecutable evidence that we have collected. So far, we have not got prosecutable evidence against the sadhvi, Purohit and Aseemanand and, hence, they have not been named,” added the New Delhi-based officer. The chargesheet was filed in the special court of judge Prithviraj Chavan.

“According to a Supreme Court judgment, courts are duty-bound to consider all reports. We did not speak about the earlier arrests and placed our point before the court that the names of these four accused emerged in our investigation and, hence, they should be tried for the 31 deaths. Now the court will take a view and pass its order. The Malegaon boys, who are out on bail, can file for discharge from the case,” said an NIA source. Dhan Singh was granted bail in a 2008 Malegaon bombing case on Wednesday.

NIA sources said the decision to bomb Malegaon in 2006 was taken by senior right-wingers, including slain RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi,Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange. Kalsangra and Lokesh Sharma recruited Rajendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh and Manohar Singh. They stayed in Malegaon for two days, surveyed the town and zeroed in on the cemetery area where Muslims came in large numbers for namaz. Initially, they planned to bomb the town in July 2006.

On September 8, Lokesh Sharma drove the team members to Malegaon, where Kalsangra, who brought the bombs, accompanied Dhan Singh, Manohar Singh and Rajendra Chaudhary to place them near Hamidiya Masjid at Bada Qabrastan, where many people had gathered for Shab-e-Baraat, and Mushwerat chowk. Later, Sharma drove the team back to Indore.


THE 2006 EXPLOSIONS TANGLE DECODING THE PROBE

ATS CASE:
In 2006, the ATS arrested nine Muslims, claiming they were members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). It filed a chargesheet in 54 days, though it had 180 days to do so. SIMI members engineered the bombings to spark ‘communal riots’. Four wanted in the case

20kg RDX for the bombs came from Pakistan and a Pakistani, Muzammil, assembled them in Malegaon. Four bombs exploded, two were hidden by the Malegaon youths

Huda, Raees Ali and Abrar planted a bomb each

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 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 CASE:
The bombings were planned and executed by ultra right-wingers
The RDX was procured in India. The explosives were allegedly planted by Ramchandra Kalsangra (wanted), Dhan Singh, Rajendra Chaudhary, and Manohar Singh. Dhan Singh had been arrested for planting bombs on Samjhauta Express and in Malegaon in 2008.
Another Samjhauta blast accused, Lokesh Sharma, provided logistical support
The blasts were masterminded 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, and chose to place bombs near mosques to cause maximum damage

FIVE AGENCIES, THREE CHARGESHEETS
The case was first probed by Malegaon police. Transferred to ATS, which filed a 4,500-page chargesheet in a hurry. After cries of bias, case handed over to CBI, which echoed the ATS in its chargesheet. Later, another CBI team took over. On April 6, 2011, the NIA took over the case

CRY FOR JUSTICE
The Muslim youths picked up by the ATS told TOI that they will file defamation suits and demand a criminal case against the ATS investigators for implicating them and keeping them in jail for over five years. “Once we are discharged, we will take all legal action possible against the ATS investigators,” they said.

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



The Times of India, May 23, 2013

NIA chargesheet to debunk ATS claims

Blames 4 Hindu Activists, Not SIMI For Attack

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The country’s premier anti-terror agency is set to file a chargesheet against four ultra-right Hindu activists for carrying out the 2006 Malegaon twin blasts.

The National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) probe has knocked the bottom off the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad’s (ATS) case that members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) had carried out the attack. The chargesheet is expected to be filed any time this week.

On September 8, 2006, bombs exploded in Bada Qabristan in Malegaon, when people gather to observe Shab-e-Baraat. At least 37 people died and 297 others were injured.

The NIA, which started the probe in April 2011 on the Union home ministry’s orders, has arrested four men—Dhan Singh, Lokesh Sharma, Manohar Singh and Rajendra Chaudhary. Sandeep Dange, Ramji Kalsangra and Raj Mehul are wanted in the case. The agency claims Chaudhary, Dhan, Manohar and Kalsangra had planted the bombs.

Asenior NIA official in Delhi refused to give more details saying the “case is sensitive”. Sharma, also an accused in the Samjhauta Express blast in 2007, and Chaudhary were members of the Bajrang Dal.

“There cannot be two sets of accused in one crime,” said an NIA officer, adding the agency was examining if there was a larger conspiracy involved. Another officer said the agency may ask the court to dismiss the charges against the nine arrested by the ATS. All were granted bail in November 2011.

On May 10, the NIA recorded the statement of Mohammed Atif, a prime witness in the case. The ATS had claimed that Atif had seen the attackers making the bombs and he hid in the godown of one of the accused. Atif later told a court in his hometown in Uttar Pradesh that he was forced to give the statement.

The NIA claims the decision to bomb the textile town was taken by senior members of the right-wing Hindu module, including former RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi, who was later murdered allegedly by Kalsangra and Dange.

Kalsangra and Sharma were tasked with the execution, and they asked Chaudhary, Dhan Singh and Manohar Singh to plant the bombs.

The agency claims the team first recced Malegaon. On the day of the blasts, Sharma drove the team to Malegaon, where Kalsangra gave them the RDX and clothes to disguise themselves as Muslims. Kalsangra accompanied Dhan, Manohar and Chaudhary to place the bombs on bicycles in Bada Qabristan near Hamidiya mosque. After the blasts, Sharma drove them back to Indore.

The ATS, led by then joint police commissioner K P Raghuvanshi and director inspector general of police Subodh Jaiswal, filed a chargesheet on December 21, 2006. It took them just 54 days to file it; usually it takes up to 180 days in such cases. The CBI, after its own probe, had endorsed the ATS findings.

The NIA, set up in 2009 after the 26/11 terror attacks, focused on Hindu right-wing groups after a confession by Swami Aseemanand, who was arrested in the 2007 Hyderabad Mecca Masjid blast case, it told the court last November. The agency has a Rs 10-lakh reward for Kalsangra and Dange.

2006 MALEGAON BLASTS
ATS CLAIMS IN 2006
The blasts were carried out by Muslim youths in an attempt to spark off communal riots The RDX came from Pakistan and its national, Muzammil, assembled them in Malegaon The bombs were planted by accused Noor-ul-Huda, Raees Ali and Abrar Ahmed
Zahid Majeed, an imam from Yavatmal, planted a bomb and returned the same day.

But around 250 Yavatmal residents filed affidavits saying he was in the town at the time Shabbir Masiullah, a battery shop owner, was part of the conspiracy. But at the time of the blasts, he was in custody of the Mumbai crime branch in another case

THE INCIDENT On September 8, 2006, bombs explode in Bada Qabristan in Malegaon when people gather to observe Shab-e-Baraat, killing 37 and injuring 297 others


THE LEGAL ANGLE
Criminal lawyer Majeed Memon, who has represented several 1993 serial blasts accused, says two ideologically diagonally opposite groups can’t be responsible for a particular terror attack. “The NIA has to discharge the earlier set of boys, who were wrongly believed to be involved.”

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
Another Samjhauta blast accused, Lokesh Sharma, provided logistical support
The blasts were plotted by former RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi, Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange, and others. Kalsangra and Sharma were tasked with the execution
Chaudhary, Dhan and Manohar recced Malegaon to identify the targets


The Times of India, May 13, 2013

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