In a breakthrough for investigation agencies probing terror incidents involving right-wing Hindu outfits, the CBI on Friday arrested Swami Aseemanand from an ashram in Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
Officials said Aseemanand had been in Haridwar for weeks, using forged identification papers. He is considered one of the main conspirators in the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Dargah blast cases. The Rajasthan ATS maintains it was Aseemanand?s plan to target Muslim places of worship across the country.
The Uttarakhand police confirmed Aseemanand?s arrest in Haridwar. ?A team from the CBI was here and they have arrested Swami Aseemanand from an ashram in Haridwar. We believe they have taken him to New Delhi,? a senior police said. Rajasthan ATS chief Kapil Garg said a team would soon be sent to question Aseemanand in connection with the Ajmer Dargah blast case.
?He is a vital link in this probe.We hope to question him. We have been on his trail since the first arrest in this case in April,? Garg said. He said the ATS chargesheet mentions Aseemanand as the main conspirator and ideologue behind the Ajmer Dargah blast. Sources said Aseemanand went underground soon after the Rajasthan ATS made the first breakthrough in the case with the arrest of Devendra Gupta on April 29 in Ajmer. During the course of his interrogation, Gupta mentioned that it was Aseemanand and Sunil Joshi who had brought him into their fold and convinced him to carry out attacks in Ajmer and Mecca Masjid, the sources said. Aseemanand remained in the Dangs in Gujarat where he was based for a few weeks after Gupta?s arrest. A team from the Rajasthan ATS had been tracking Aseemanand ever since. According to the ATS, he was spotted in Gujarat a few times but then fled to South India.
It is alleged that Aseemanand also harboured Sunil Joshi ? prime suspect in the Ajmer blast case, he died later ? and other accused in his ashram in the Dangs.
