Hyderabad: The bombs that were used in
triggering blast at the historic Mecca Masjid in 2007 were
assembled in the city itself, according to CBI.
Also, the accused, allegedly having links with RSS,
procured material for assembling the bombs possibly from
Madhya Pradesh, a CBI official said Monday after filing a
document in a local court in connection with the case.
A cellphone-triggered pipe bomb placed at the Mecca
Masjid during Friday prayers on May 18, 2007 had claimed nine
lives, whereas five people were killed in subsequent police
firing on protesters near the mosque.
The CBI, which is probing the Mecca Masjid blast, had
registered a case on June 9, 2007 under various Sections of
IPC and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against unknown
persons and also took up investigations in connection with the
recovery of an unexploded bomb inside the mosque premises.
During the investigation, roles of Sandeep Dange,
Ramchandar K, Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma - all having
alleged links with the RSS, emerged, the CBI has already
claimed in its petition before a local court.
The agency today filed one more memo seeking inclusion of
an RSS pracharak, Sunil Joshi's name as an accused in the FIR.
Joshi was shot dead by three gunmen on December 29, 2007 near
his house at Dewas in Madhya Pradesh.
The first two accused are absconding, while Devender
Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, presently under judicial remand at
Chanchalguda jail here, were brought by CBI from Ajmer last
week as part of further investigation into the case.
The duo were earlier arrested by Rajasthan police in
connection with the 2007 Ajmer blasts.
The bomb blast at Mecca Masjid was carried out after a
well planned recee by Lokesh Sharma, who camped in the city
two months prior to the incident at a lodge in Secunderabad, a
senior CBI official involved with the investigation said,
adding the agency had gathered enough evidence to establish
the accused complicity in the crime.
Sharma did recee and passed on the information. After
this, Sunil Joshi, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandar Kalsangrah
came to Secunderabad at least two-three days prior to the
blast, and on May 18 went inside the Mecca Masjid premises as
visitors and placed the bombs and just walked out, the
official said.
"The bombs were assembled in Hyderabad itself. They made
four bombs that resembled like grenades and the material like
iron pipes were procured from Madhya Pradesh.
Two of the pipe bombs were placed at Mecca Masjid, though
only one exploded, while the remaining two were used in the
Ajmer blasts," the CBI official said.
"Gupta was also part of the conspiracy and has a role in
purchase of SIM cards and timer devices which were used to
trigger the blast, he said, adding that how the accused
procured the RDX was being investigated.
The accused planned to carry out similar blasts at iconic
places of Muslims across the country and succeeded in their
plot by triggering another blast in Ajmer on October 12, 2007,
the official added.
Meanwhile, a Hyderabad court today remanded
accused Devender Gupta to 10-days police custody.
PTI
First Published: Monday, June 21, 2010, 20:38