NEW DELHI: Disclosure of Hindu extremists' role in the Samjhauta Express blast is not just limited to the confession of Swami Aseemanand. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has been probing the case since July last year, has collected evidence, right from where the bombers stayed in Ambala to who purchased the suitcases used to carry explosives on board the train, which point to their clear roles.
Sources in the agency, which is currently interrogating the Swami, said sleuths had also got details of shelters used by the key operational men Sunil Joshi, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra after carrying out the blasts on Samjhauta Express at Diwana near Panipat in Haryana.
"Aseemanand is being taken to different places to get more details about these shelters. It was found during the probe that a number of businessmen in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan had given the trio shelter after the Samjhauta blast," an official said.
Though the agency has been desperately looking for Dange and Kalsangra to unravel the mystery, their search has become a lot more crucial with Aseemanand's lawyer claiming that the accused had made his confession under duress.
Lt-Col Srikant Purohit, who has been in jail for his role in the 2008 Malegaon blast, also spoke about Joshi and his group and told his interrogators that the Hindu extremist team had full support of over 3,000 members of Abhinav Bharat.
"Most of these members are businessmen spread in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Their roles in providing shelter to Dange and Kalsangra are being thoroughly verified while the agency is desperately looking for the duo," said a source.
Though the confessional statement of Aseemanand which was recorded by metropolitan magistrate Deepak Dabas here on December 18 last year did not elaborate on the places visited by the bombers after the blast, it dropped enough hints as to how the entire operation was planne! d and ex ecuted.
The official said, "Had Haryana Police, which probed the incident for over three years, pressed its leads further, they would have certainly reached the Hindu extremists much earlier."
Aseemanand, who unlike what his lawyer claimed clearly stated before the magistrate that he was "making the confession voluntarily and without any fear, force, coercion or inducement", said the responsibility to carry out the attack on Samjhauta Express was given to Sunil Joshi (who was reportedly killed by his own men in December 2007) who told him that Dange would arrange for some chemicals to carry out the blast.
"Joshi told me that there must be three groups for carrying out the bomb blast. While one group would look for finance and other logistics, the second group would arrange for materials to make bomb and the third group would plant the bomb," said the Swami in his confession.
He also said that Joshi told him about his involvement in the Samjhauta attack with the help of others including two Muslim boys.
Sources in the agency, which is currently interrogating the Swami, said sleuths had also got details of shelters used by the key operational men Sunil Joshi, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra after carrying out the blasts on Samjhauta Express at Diwana near Panipat in Haryana.
"Aseemanand is being taken to different places to get more details about these shelters. It was found during the probe that a number of businessmen in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan had given the trio shelter after the Samjhauta blast," an official said.
Though the agency has been desperately looking for Dange and Kalsangra to unravel the mystery, their search has become a lot more crucial with Aseemanand's lawyer claiming that the accused had made his confession under duress.
Lt-Col Srikant Purohit, who has been in jail for his role in the 2008 Malegaon blast, also spoke about Joshi and his group and told his interrogators that the Hindu extremist team had full support of over 3,000 members of Abhinav Bharat.
"Most of these members are businessmen spread in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Their roles in providing shelter to Dange and Kalsangra are being thoroughly verified while the agency is desperately looking for the duo," said a source.
Though the confessional statement of Aseemanand which was recorded by metropolitan magistrate Deepak Dabas here on December 18 last year did not elaborate on the places visited by the bombers after the blast, it dropped enough hints as to how the entire operation was planne! d and ex ecuted.
The official said, "Had Haryana Police, which probed the incident for over three years, pressed its leads further, they would have certainly reached the Hindu extremists much earlier."
Aseemanand, who unlike what his lawyer claimed clearly stated before the magistrate that he was "making the confession voluntarily and without any fear, force, coercion or inducement", said the responsibility to carry out the attack on Samjhauta Express was given to Sunil Joshi (who was reportedly killed by his own men in December 2007) who told him that Dange would arrange for some chemicals to carry out the blast.
"Joshi told me that there must be three groups for carrying out the bomb blast. While one group would look for finance and other logistics, the second group would arrange for materials to make bomb and the third group would plant the bomb," said the Swami in his confession.
He also said that Joshi told him about his involvement in the Samjhauta attack with the help of others including two Muslim boys.
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