New Delhi:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to reinvestigate the 2006 Malegaon blasts case. A MCOCA court has granted the permission to CBI.
CBI has decided to reopen the case after prime suspect Aseemanand's alleged confession. He will be questioned at a later date, CBI sources said.
The CBI sources said that the agency will also look into the arrest of nine people by the Maharashtra Police's Anti-Terror Squad (ATS).
This is the second time that the CBI is having a look at the case; the first time was when the case was handed over to the investigating agency after doubts were raised about the chargesheet filed by Maharashtra ATS in the case.
Nine people of the minority community were arrested in connection with the case and questions about their role were raised, so the CBI was asked to take over the case for a thorough investigation.
At that time, the CBI had no inputs. But with the progress of the investigation, the alleged confession of Swami Aseemanand, and the aspect of right-wing terror coming out, the whole dimension of the case has been changed.
So, the agency will reinvestigate the case in a new perspective, in the light of Aseemanand's statements.
The CBI had initially arrested Aseemanand in connection with the Mecca Masjid blast case. But later, his role in the Samjhauta and Malegaon blasts came to light. The investigating agency now plans to connect the dots in all these cases.
Aseemanand, alias Jatin Chatterjee, had reportedly made a statement before a magistrate on December 18, 2010 in which he said that in June 2006, he and other members of the Sangh Parivar like Riteshwar, Sadhvi Pragya and Sunil Joshi met at Riteshwar's house in Valsad (Gujarat).
Aseemanand reportedly told everyone present at the meeting that 'bomb ka jawab bomb se dena chahiye'. He also said that he realised that Joshi and his group were already doing something on the subject.
Aseemanand is believed to be a close aide of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, one of the main accused in the Malegaon blast case.
Thirty one people were killed and another 312 injured in Malegaon blast on September 8, 2006.
Aseemanand writes to President Pratibha Patil:A week after revealing Swami Aseemanand's confessions regarding Malegaon, Ajmer, Hyderabad and Samjhauta Express blasts, Tehelka weekly has now got hold of two letters allegedly written by Swami Aseemanand to Presidents of India and Pakistan.
In these letters, the magazine says, Aseemanand has written to President Pratibha Patil and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari admitting his 'crimes'. He has also admitted to his change of heart after meeting a Muslim boy in prison, the magazine says.
Aseemanand reportedly wrote those letters two days after his confession.