ATS needs to fill the blanks in Ajmer blast case

The filing of the Ajmer blasts chargesheet and also the mention of top notch Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Indresh Kumar had created quite a stir. A lot of big names figure in the 806-page chargesheet, but the real challenge before the investigating agency would be to join the dots in order to reach a final conclusion in the case.

There are a lot of high-profile names such as Indresh Kumar, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Swami Aseemanand which find a mention in the chargesheet. Legal experts who have seen the chargesheet point out that there are many loopholes in the existing chargesheet, and there are a lot of dots that need to be joined for the Anti Terrorist Squad to come to any sort of conclusion, failing which they could face problems while answering the court.

The strongest charge that the ATS has against Indresh Kumar is that he had addressed a meeting in 2005 at the Gujarati Samaj guest house in Jaipur. The meeting was attended by Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Swami Aseemnand from the Abhinav Bharath, a Pune-based right-wing outfit.

This meeting discussed the Ajmer blasts, according to the ATS. The ATS goes on to state that the room was booked by Sunil Joshi under the name of Manoj Kumar.

In addition to this the ATS also claimed that Aruna Jain, the manager of the guest house, had admitted that Sunil Joshi had booked a claim that she has it denied now. The denial had prompted the ATS to get a copy of the guesthouse register, and interestingly, this was done only after the chargesheet was filed.

The problem now for the ATS would be to join the dots regarding this meeting in order to justify inclusion of Indresh Kumar's name in the chagesheet, experts and former police officials point out.

The ATS will need to seek time from the court to interrogate several persons who could be the possible links between that meeting and Kumar.

Sadhvi Pragya, who also figures in the chargesheet, is the biggest link for the ATS in order to prove that Kumar was present at that meeting.

However, her advocates say that till date she has not taken the name of Kumar during interrogation. Moreover, there are no immediate plans to interrogate her either, since according to her advocate Ganesh Sovani, no such intimation has been given so far.

The late Sunil Joshi was a vital link in this case. His name has been doing the rounds in the both the Ajmer and the Maleagon blast cases ever since the arrest of the Sadhvi. Investigators claim that he was crucial to the case, but he was shot dead a couple of years ago; as a result of which the Malegaon blast was allegedly planned to avenge his death.

The other two accused in this case are Sandee Dhange and Ramji Kalasanghra. Both these persons have been shown as the key accused in the case.

However, both these men are absconding, according to the ATS. These two men who have been termed as 'low lying cadres' and are said to have executed the blasts. Their names had cropped up in Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid blast case too.

The other man who the ATS would have to nab and interrogate is Swami Aseemanand.

Originally from West Bengal, Assemanand had started working with tribals in Gujarat and is believed to have re-converted the tribals, who had been converted to Christianity.

Sources in the investigating agency say that they have been trying to track Assemanand but are finding it hard since he is believed to be hiding in some forested area. They also believe that he may have the answers to both the Mecca Masjid and the Ajmer blast cases.

The other issue before the ATS is the turn that this case has taken since the past one year. It was the same ATS which had stated that the Ajmer blasts were the handiwork of the Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami. They had carried out a couple of arrests too in this regard, and had even said that it was the same faction which had carried out the blasts in Mecca Masjid as well.

The counsel for the accused persons now are likely to take up this defence. Legal experts say that this not a fatal defect, but the ATS will have a lot of explaining to do to clarify as to why they have towed this line now.

Sources in the investigation agencies say that they are aware that there is a lot of work remaining in this case. The charghesheet had to be filed since there is a time frame to do so, failing which the accused persons will be entitled for bail.

"We are building the case up and will take it step-by-step and ensure that we have a strong case on hand. One should not come to the conclusion that the case is weak already," a source also pointed out.