Chauhan planted bombs on Samjhauta Express: NIA

New Delhi, Feb 15: Kamal Chauhan, a disgruntled RSS worker arrested by the NIA, had planted bombs on board Samjhauta Express in 2007 after undergoing training in arms and explosives in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, the agency claimed on Tuesday.

Chauhan was taken to Panchkula court which today granted NIA his custody till February 24 for questioning him on his alleged role in the blast in the Delhi-Lahore train that left 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, dead.

Asked about the allegations against him, Chauhan, who was being taken by the police after the court proceeding, told reporters, "Yes, I have done it on my will" even as his family claimed that he had no role in the case.

Investigations reveal that Chauhan, who is Indore-based, along with Ramchandra Kalasangra alias Ramji and Lokesh Sharma, also charged in the case, planted the explosives in the train at Old Delhi, from where the train originates, NIA's Special Prosecutor R K Handa said outside the court after the in-camera hearing in the case.

Chauhan, believed to be a close aide of Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, key accused in the Samjhauta case, was arrested in Noida on Delhi's outskirts on Sunday and was brought to Panchkula in Haryana today. The NIA had sought his remand for a fortnight.

"We have to unearth his complete involvement and association. During investigations, it has come to light that Chauhan underwent extensive training in handling of weapons and explosives. He took training at Karni Singh shooting range in Faridabad (Haryana) and a register seized by CBI on August 10, 2011 has the entries of his name in that shooting range. He also took explosives and arms training at Bagli in Dewas (Madhya Pradesh)," Handa said.

"To unearth more information about execution of the plan, preparations that were made, a thorough investigation is required, for which we have sought the remand," he said.

Chauhan, born in Mhow, was an activist of Rashtirya Swayamsevak Sangh. Sources claimed that during interrogation, Chauhan had spoken about his association with the RSS and his fall out as he did not subscribe to the "new ideologies".

PTI