Why is NIA re-visiting Lashkar-e-Tayiba link in Samjautha blasts case

New Delhi, April 5: A team of the National Investigation Agency made a surprise visit to the United States of America in a bid to gather more information in connection with their probe into the Samjautha express blasts case.

It comes as quite a surprise that the NIA which has been probing this case since nearly 5 years.

Moreover the NIA has also filed a chargesheet in this case and the trial too has commenced against Swami Aseemanand and others.

The NIA's visit to the US is to gather more evidence regarding a person called Arif Kasmani who the US Treasury Department had termed as the funder of the blasts.

On February 18 2007 bombs planted in two carriages of the Samjautha Express exploded killing 68 persons and injuring several others. It was stated after the blast that it was the handiwork of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. However the probe a year later took a complete different turn with investigators blaming a group called the Abhinav Bharat.

No turn, just making sure:

Sources say that the visit by the NIA to the US in a bid to seek out more information on Kasmani does not mean that the case will take a turn. The NIA is just double checking to find out if Kasmani who was also a financier for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba had any role to play in this case as well.
Sources say that the case is pretty much a closed one, but the NIA is taking one more re-look into it to be doubly sure.

A team of the NIA led by the DIG, Sharad Kumar is visiting the United States of America to seek more evidence on the role of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

It is not a u-turn said an NIA official to OneIndia. It may be recalled that it was the US treasury department which had suggested in June 2009 that Kasmani could have funded the operation.

The NIA team will meet with officials in the US including those from the FBI to seek out more details regarding the case and the Kasmani angle.

OneIndia News