Maharashtra ATS to quiz Aseemanand in 2008 Malegaon blast

Mumbai, Jan 14 (PTI) A team of Maharashtra ATS, probingthe 2008 Malegaon bomb blast, has left for Haryana toquestion Swami Aseemanand and seek a certified copy of his"confession" linking himself and right-wing groups to theterror act, a senior police official said today.

Aseemanand, the main accused in the 2007 SamjhautaExpress blast, is currently in judicial custody in Haryana.

"Following his confession about his role and that ofsome groups in the 2008 Malegaon blast, our team left forHaryana on January 12 to question him. However, Aseemanand isin judicial custody now. Once the agency concerned there getsthe custody of Aseemanand again, we will ensure that we get anopportunity to interrogate him," Rakesh Maria, chief of Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), told reporters here.

A certified confessional statement of Aseemanand, inwhich he has talked about the bomb blast, would also be soughtfrom the probe agency concerned, he said. "After obtaining thestatement, we will seek a legal opinion on it."

Seven people were killed in the September 29 explosionat Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in Nashikdistrict of Maharashtra.

Aseemanand is a member of the right-wing group AbhinavBharat which was allegedly behind the blast.

His name had surfaced during interrogation of one ofthe 11 arrested accused in the case, according to ATS sources.

However, nothing substantial had been established atthat time to link him with the blast and their attempts toquestion him had also failed as he could not be traced, theysaid. .