CBI to reinvestigate 2006 Malegaon blast

Mumbai, Jan 13 (PTI) In a fresh development in the 2006Malegaon blast probe, a special court today granted permissionto CBI for reinvestigating the case in wake of "confession"statements made by Swami Aseemanand linking Hindu groups toterror acts.

CBI has moved the application before a MCOCA court hereafter the statement made by Swami Aseemanand under section164 Criminal Procedure Code before a magistrate in which heclaimed that Hindu groups had carried out the Malegaon blastin 2006 that left 37 people dead and over 100 injured.

Accepting CBI''s arguments, special MCOCA Judge Yatin DShinde granted the agency permission under section 173 (8) ofCriminal Procedure Code to reinvestigate the case.

"We need to conduct further investigation into the blastfollowing fresh disclosures made by one Aseemanand in hisconfession," CBI counsel Ejaz Khan argued before the court.

Assemanand, alias Jatin Chatterjee, had stated in hisstatement that his RSS'' murdered worker Sunil Joshi and otherswere responsible for Malegaon 2006 blasts.

The Anti-Terror Squad of Maharashtra as well as the thenteam of CBI had stayed away from re-investigating the casedespite being handed over the probe by Maharashtra Governmenton December 21, 2006.

Ironically, the ATS had filed a 2,200 page chargesheetin the special court on December 22, 2006.

However, the then Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R RPatil had announced the transfer of the case to CBI for afresh probe following pressure from political parties.

The probe was conducted by Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, thethen Joint Commissioner of ATS. He was later shifted toResearch and Analysis Wing.

The ATS had stated in the chargesheet that the bombswere assembled by two Pakistanis who stayed in Mumbai andMalegaon for over one-and-half months. One of them wasidentified as Muzammil.

Four bombs planted in Malegaon, the communally-sensitivepowerloom township had exploded on September 8. The dayhappened to be Shab-e-Baraat, considered auspicious amongMuslims, when they assemble to pay respects to their dead kin.

The police claimed 20 kg RDX was smuggled to Malegaon andaround five kg was used to make six bombs.

The chargesheet has been filed against Mohammed ZahidMajid, Salman Faisa Abdul Latif Aimi, Faruq Iqbal AhmedMajdumi, Sheikh Mohammed Alim Alam Shaikh, Asif Khan BasirKhan, Noorul Huda Samshudoha, Shabir Ahmed Masiullah and RaisAhmed Razaq Mansuri.

Malegaon had seen another terror attack in 2008allegedly by right wing Hindu groups and Sadhvi Pragya andformer Lt Col Srikanth Purohit were arrested in connectionwith the incident.