Daily Times

CHANDIGARH: Swami Aseemanand, main accused in the 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast case, was granted bail on Friday by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court at Panchkula.

The blast occurred near Panipat in which 68 people, mostly Pakistani nationals were killed. Aseemanand belongs to a right-wing Hindu outfit and is facing trial in three cases for attacking Muslim religious places and Samjhauta Express train that runs between Attari and Delhi for visitors from Pakistan. He was granted bail on two personal bonds of Rs 100,000 each and two surety bonds of Rs 100,000 each. After the Punjab and Haryana High Court accepted his bail plea last year, the NIA did not oppose it. Two other terror cases are still pending against him. He was produced in court along with other undertrials amid heavy security. During the hearing, the statements of three witnesses – Shiv Narayan Patel, Jagdish Patel and Rajesh Mishra, all natives of Madhya Pradesh – were also recorded. Two of them turned hostile. Rajesh told the court he had never given statement to the police. The NIA court had framed charges against Aseemanand, Kamal Chauhan, Lokesh Sharma and Rajender Pehelwan Chaudhary in the Samjhauta blasts case in January 2014. Lokesh, Kamal and Rajendra are lodged in the Ambala central jail.

It was on February 19, 2007, that 68 people, mostly from Pakistan, were killed in a bombing aboard the Samjhauta Express. The train was going from Delhi to Attari, the last station on the Indian side. The passengers were to board the train to Lahore the next day. The bombings took place in two compartments at Diwana village near the industrial town of Panipat. Aseemanand’s interrogation revealed that he had roped in Sandeep Dange, an engineering graduate, and Ramji Kalsangra, an electrician, to build the improvised explosive devices used in the bombings. One of the accused, Sunil Joshi, is now dead. According to sources, Aseemanand might be shifted to Hyderabad or Ajmer, as he is facing a trial before the NIA court in Rajasthan related to the 2007 Ajmer dargah bombing case, and the Mecca Masjid bombing case.