Raj ATS nabs another suspect in Ajmer blast case

The Anti-Terrorism Squad of Rajasthan arrested another suspect in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case who had allegedly played a key role in the conspiracy behind the incident in which three persons were killed.

The suspect Harshad Bhai Solanki, alias Munna alias Raj alias Daadhi Bhai, was also involved in the 2002 Best Bakery riot case in Vadodara and had been absconding since 2004.

"He was brought by our team from Gujarat for interrogation and was arrested on November 1," said Kapil Garg, additional director general of police.

"On the same day, he was produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ajmer, from where he was remanded to police custody till November 9. Hailing from Vadodara, Solanki came in contact with Sunil Joshi, a suspect in the Ajmer blast case who was murdered in December 2007 in Madhya Pradesh, and was his accomplice while planning the Dargah blast." Garg said, adding he played an important role in preparing the bombs, collecting explosives and other necessary equipments, and packaging of bombs.

According to him, Solanki was involved in the Best Bakery riot case and was among the four absconding accused out of total 17 since the trial of the case was transferred to Maharastra from Gujarat in 2004. Garg, however, declined to disclose details regarding Solanki's organisational affiliation, if any.

Asked when senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Indresh Kumar, whose name also figures in the chargesheet in connection with the Ajmer blast, will be interrogated, he said any such information could affect the investigation of the case.

The ATS had filed the chargesheet in Dargah blast case before the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate in Ajmer on October 22 against five persons -- Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Chander Shekhar Lave, Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangre. Dange and Kalsangre are still absconding.

Asked to comment on Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta's statement on the issue of cooperation from MP on probe into Ajmer blast, Garg said, "First of all, I am not aware of what Gupta has said and secondly, there is no such issue with MP. There was no such occasion when we required to seek any specific information or input from them. So, there is no point of cooperation or non-cooperation," he said.

The Rajasthan government had earlier said that it was not getting any co-operation from MP.