BLAST AFTER BLAST

Who is responsible?

The news in April 2006 that a bomb had accidentally ex- pect but the charges are rarely, if ever, proved in court. There is ploded in the house of an RSS man in Nanded in , consequently a widespread feeling that terrorist acts by uniden- killing two persons and injuring four others – all tified individuals are being used to demonise the entire Muslim activists – created a national sensation. Initially, the first infor- community. mation report (FIR) on the incident registered by a local police It is against this backdrop that the Nanded incident attracted officer unquestioningly recorded the injured activists’ claim that considerable attention from secular activists and Muslim organi- the unfortunate incident was the result of an accidental ignition sations. A close watch was kept on the investigating agencies to of firecrackers stored at the site. But within days the police inves- ensure that in a case where Hindu extremists had clearly been tigation itself revealed that the incident was in fact the result of caught red-handed there would be proper investigation and pros- an unintended explosion of bombs that were being assembled by ecution. As a result of this sustained public vigilance the case Hindu extremists with the clear intention of targeting mosques was handed over from the police to the Anti- Squad and terrorising . (ATS) and then from the ATS to the Central Bureau of Investi- There have been past instances elsewhere in the country also gation (CBI). linking Hindu extremists to bombs. But in the numerous blasts has been closely monitoring the Nanded that have rocked city after city in with frightening regularity case from the start. CC’s sustained investigation unravels a story in recent years the intelligence agencies and the police have in- of police bias, half measures by the ATS and, worst of all, an all variably pointed their fingers at Muslim extremist outfits, either too apparent bid, ‘Operation Cover-up’, by the CBI. Much was indigenous or from across the border. expected from the CBI by way of a thorough and non-partisan Indian Muslims have repeatedly complained that almost im- investigation but its conduct has been the most shocking. This mediately after every blast only Muslim names crop up among raises the obvious question: is the apex investigation agency in the accused and only Muslim organisations are named as sus- the country communally tainted?

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 4 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS MAHARASHTRA

BY Muslim places of worship, camouflaging Deshpande. One of the accused men, their entire operation to resemble a ter- Rahul Manohar Pande, had sustained N THE night of April 5-6, 2006 ror operation run by Muslims. Laxman serious injuries in the blast but had a bomb exploded in the house Gundayya Rajkondwar, in whose house escaped from the scene and sought sur- of Laxman Gundayya the bombs were being manufactured and reptitious medical attention. Advocate Rajkondwar, a retired execu- whose son Naresh died in the explosion, Ektate was among those who helped tive engineer at the PWD, is an RSS man. Diaries, important docu- Pande go into hiding while Dr Deshpande ONanded. Two persons – Naresh ments, suspicious maps and mobile tel- provided medical care without notify- Rajkondwar and Himanshu Panse – died ephone numbers that were unearthed ing the police. Curiously, neither of the on the spot while four of their accom- from the houses of the accused incrimi- two men had any difficulty in obtain- plices – Maroti Keshav Wagh, Yogesh nated them further. In a manner of ing anticipatory bail from the district Deshpande (alias Vidulkar), Gururaj speaking, members of the court. Ektate applied for and was granted Jairam Tuptewar and Rahul Manohar were literally caught red-handed with anticipatory bail through an ad interim Pande – were seriously injured. bombs in their basement. bail application on April 10 while Dr On hearing of the incident, an as- A frantic effort was made to some- Umesh Dinkarrao Deshpande made a sistant police inspector (API) from the how divert attention from the facts. A similar application on April 13. He was local Bhagyanagar police station, large quantity of firecrackers, valued at also granted ad interim bail the same Ravindra Purushottam Dahedkar, who Rs 1,20,000, was later found on the site day following an oral “no objection” from was on patrol duty, registered the first of the explosion. These had obviously the assistant public prosecutor, AJ complaint. On the say-so of the surviv- been brought in after the event; de- Kurtadikar. ing injured, he registered an FIR. The spite the occurrence of a high inten- As of today, all the accused, apart FIR said Naresh Rajkondwar was running sity blast the firecrackers remained in- from the absconding Rahul Manohar a firecracker business from his home. tact! Where did this large stock of fire- Pande, are out on bail. The blast occurred because Rajkondwar and Wagh were smoking too close to Further investigations revealed that the deceased where the firecrackers were stored. In and wounded persons were all active workers of short, it was an unfortunate accident. Was Dahedkar just lazy, naïve, or were the Bajrang Dal who had been assembling bombs his actions influenced by the popular to target Muslim places of worship, camouflaging assumption that only people of a cer- their entire operation to resemble a terror tain community engaged in the crea- operation run by Muslims tion of bombs and bomb blasts? It must have been a matter of some crackers come from? Why was it stored Heinous deeds by Hindu extremists embarrassment, in retrospect, for the in a home illegally, without licence? The On May 4, 2006 the case was trans- then district superintendent of police, victims were now the accused. ferred to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Fatehsingh Patil, and the district col- In the first few days following the of the Maharashtra police. By the time lector of Nanded, Radheshyam Mopalwar. blasts the police arrested 16 persons the ATS filed its first charge sheet on Relying presumably on Dahedkar’s FIR, who were then remanded to police cus- August 24, 2006, it had already amassed both of them repeated the firecrackers- tody. The remand application high- a mountain of damning evidence against did-it story to the media. lighted two points. One, the accused a whole network of Bajrang Dal and other Within days however the inspector persons knowingly provided the po- sangh parivar workers engaged in ter- general of police, Nanded range, Dr lice false information on the day of rorist activities. Reproduced below are Suryaprakash Gupta, set the record the crime, saying the blast was caused some highlights and excerpts from the straight, telling the media that the in- by firecrackers when in fact it was a ATS charge sheet: cident involved a bomb blast. During bomb blast. Two, investigations had examination the police (Dahedkar him- revealed that the accused persons Highlights self) found “splinters” on the bodies of possessed diagrams, maps and other The accused persons involved in the deceased and the injured. A live pipe documentary material related to the assembling the bomb(s) at Nanded were bomb was also found at the explosion manufacture and storage of bombs also responsible for three earlier bomb site. It was thus obvious that the fire- and the identification of target ar- blasts in neighbouring districts: at the cracker story was a deliberate fabrica- eas for the purpose of creating terror Mohammadiya Masjid in (No- tion in order to mislead the police. in the country. vember 2003), at the Quadriya Masjid Further investigations revealed that Named among the accused were a in Jalna (August 2004) and at the Meraj- the deceased and wounded persons were practising advocate at the Nanded dis- ul-Uloom Madrassa/Masjid in Purna in all active workers of the Bajrang Dal who trict court, Milind Arvind Ektate, and a Parbhani district (August 2004). (So far had been assembling bombs to target medical practitioner, Dr Umesh Dinkarrao state police efforts to track down the

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 5 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST perpetrators of these blasts had drawn Ten live 7.65 mm cartridges were bombs (IEDs). After demonstrating (to) a blank.) found at the site during investigations them how to explode these bombs, the Four of the six prime accused in and seized by the police. Laxman explosives were handed over to Panse the case under investigation – Sanjay Rajkondwar kept the live cartridges in by Chakraborty. Panse (also) underwent Choudhary, Himanshu Panse, Maroti his home illegally. This was one reason training by the VHP and Bajrang Dal at Keshav Wagh and Yogesh Ravindra why the ATS included Laxman for two years.” Deshpande – had planted bombs at Rajkondwar among the prime accused “Panse and Wagh underwent 40 the Parbhani mosque on November in the crime. days’ training at Bhonsala Military 21, 2003. School at Nagpur… After returning Two of the six accused – Sanjay Excerpts from in the year 2003 (they) Choudhary and Gururaj Jairam Tuptewar “Propaganda by these organisa- exploded bombs at the Gousiya – admitted to planting bombs at the tions made them propagate that inno- Masjid, Parbhani, for which crime No. Purna mosque on August 27, 2004. cent were being attacked by the 61/03 has been registered at the One of the six accused – Maroti extremist Muslim organisations day in Nanal Peth police station.” Keshav Wagh – was charged with plant- and day out and hence the accused “The accused Laxman Rajkondwar ing bombs at the Quadriya Masjid, Jalna, Himanshu Panse, Rahul Manohar Pande, allowed his house to be used for the also on August 27, 2004. started a gymnasium to mobilise youth.” making of bombs even though he was Five of the main accused in the “The gymnasium, named Power aware of the consequences of the bomb Nanded blasts were involved in throw- Zone, was set up in order to unite blasts and possibility of damage to life ing acid on a Muslim teacher, Shaikh youths and draw them towards their and property. Yousuf Shaikh Gafoor Sahab, in Nanded version of . Panse and Wagh “The said bombs were to be used on April 8, 2001. started a branch of Sangh at Nanded, at some place for terrorist and anti-na- The target of the bombs which blew up in their faces on April 5-6, 2006 was ‘Panse and Wagh underwent 40 days’ training at a mosque in Aurangabad. Both Bhonsala Military School at Nagpur. After returning Himanshu Panse and Maroti Wagh had visited and taken a close look at the from Pune in the year 2003 (they) exploded bombs Aurangabad mosque and its surround- at the Gousiya Masjid, Parbhani’ ings in May 2004. Police raids on the houses and Bajrang Nagar, opposite MGM College. tional activities and they were well other establishments of the accused Accused Yogesh Vidulkar has also aware that these bombs could kill many persons and subsequent search opera- started (a) hostel for orphans at his persons and they themselves could lose tions uncovered materials in the pos- residential house.” their life while handling the said session of the accused which establish “They have created an anti-Mus- bombs. They (father and son) had pur- that they were all active members of lim atmosphere by organising seminars posefully kept (a) huge quantity of outfits like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak and giving speeches aimed at empha- firecrackers at their house with inten- Sangh (RSS), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad sising how the Muslims commit injus- tions to make people believe that it (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal. tice to Hindus and motivating the Hin- was an accident involving firecrack- Evidence against Maroti Wagh in- dus for doing something for Hinduism; ers and not bomb blasts if any such they have organised religious ceremo- untoward incident took place. It has cludes a register and an identity card nies on the occasions of Hindu New been informed, in writing, by the hon- that clearly links him to the RSS. Papers Year Day, the birth anniversary of Ram, ourable collector, Nanded, that there linking him to the RSS were confiscated Vijayadashmi, Ganesh festival, Durga was no legal permission for such accu- by the ATS. festival and various other Hindu fes- mulation of firecrackers.” A house search of the accused, tivals through the organisations RSS “From the ‘Ramdas Raznishi’ and Gururaj Jairam Tuptewar, revealed that and Bajrang Dal in Nanded city and pocket diary confiscated during the Himanshu Venkatesh Panse, Naresh Nanded district.” house search of Wagh, and the map Laxman Rajkondwar, Maroti Keshav “In order that the aim of revenge found in the pocket diary, it is revealed Wagh, Yogesh Ravindra Vidulkar is effectively fulfilled, accused Wagh, that while he was staying at Aurangabad (Deshpande), Gururaj Jairam Tuptewar, Panse, Choudhary and Vidulkar (injured) for (a) BPEd diploma along with his Rahul Manohar Pande, Sanjay went to ‘Akanksha Resort’ at the foot of friend in the year 2004 Panse visited Choudhary, Ramdas Ananda Mulange (an the Fort Sinhgad near Pune in 2003 and the place in May 2004 and at that time employee of one of the accused) and got training (in) making pipe bombs witness Shrikar Shivsamb Sonawale and Laxman Gundayya Rajkondwar were/are from a man named Mithun Chakraborty. three others went round Aurangabad hardcore activists of the RSS and the They got themselves trained for making city and Panse inspected the masjid Bajrang Dal. three types of bombs, such as timer carefully.”

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 6 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS MAHARASHTRA

“From the false beard and mous- tache confiscated during the house search of Himanshu Venkatesh Panse and ‘Hindu bombs’ and ‘Muslim bombs’ the conversation on mobile No. 9822297494 of witness Atul Vinod In May 2006 Communalism Combat had interviewed the then chief of Kamtikar, it was revealed that Wagh was Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), KP Raghuvanshi. The text of to visit Aurangabad on April 5, 2006… the full interview was published in CC in June 2006. Reproduced here and hence (a) motorcycle was kept ready are excerpts from the interview: on April 4, 2004 at Dhoot Motors, of Sachin Suresh Kadam, for carrying out Q: There have been two recent incidents of alleged terrorism (in the state): in April (2006) when youth manufacturing bombs at Nanded died as a bomb some work at Aurangabad.” exploded unexpectedly and the attempt on the RSS headquarters at Nagpur in “All these facts reveal that these May. How do you view these incidents? accused had preplanned a bomb ex- A: Unfortunately, one (Nanded incident) is a terrorist act by Hindus plosion at some mosque for the pur- and the other (Nagpur incident) by Muslims trained in Pakistan. pose of creating unrest among Hin- dus and Muslims.” Q: The administration is perceived to be tight-lipped about the Nanded inci- dent while speaking repeatedly of Nagpur, Malegaon and Aurangabad (the Highlights arms haul). Is there any policy decision behind this selective treatment? Based on its findings, the ATS in- A: Both incidents are being handled with the same vigour. Both are serious. cluded Sanatkumar Ragvithal Bhate, a In the Nanded case the very fact that the investigation has been handed over Pune resident, in the list of witnesses. to us, the ATS, shows how the administration and government are viewing it. In his statements given to the ATS on Investigations are on. Two persons making the bombs died on the spot... The April 20 and May 18, 2006 Bhate re- house was the residence of the local Bajrang Dal and VHP activist. vealed that he had been with the RSS This is the same group of terrorists responsible for the bomb blasts at since 1996 and was formerly a member the Parbhani mosque in (November) 2003, an incident in which 25 per- of the Indian navy. Bhate confessed that sons were injured. Until now we do not know for sure if they are linked to in March or April 2000 he received a the other masjid bomb blasts at Purna and Jalna (August 2004, in which telephone call from the office of the 18 persons were injured). Now we are awaiting the go-ahead from the Bajrang Dal situated behind the doctor to interrogate them to get further leads. We have applied the pro- Saraswati Mandir School, Pune. Dal visions of the Unlawful Practices Act. It is clear that these bombs were not leader Milind Parade requested Bhate to being manufactured for a puja. They were being manufactured for unlawful ends to wreak violence through terror. There is no question of going slow train his activists, due to arrive in Pune on the investigation. for a camp, in the use of “short sticks” (gelatine sticks). He admitted to attend- Q: Is there a specially worked out drill that is followed by the police for such ing the camp to carry out the requested ‘terrorist operations’? Some serious questions about the Nagpur incident were raised training. Around 40-50 state-level ac- by a citizens’ fact-finding committee. One general criticism is that the ‘terrorists’ are tivists attended the camp at which one often killed and diaries with a long list of convenient details found? of the accused, Himanshu Panse, was A: I accept that there is this general criticism that terrorists captured the group leader. Bhate said he met in such operations are killed, diaries found, etc. I can only state that for Panse at the camp. Parade then re- such operations the police are trained so that if there is firing, they quested Bhate to also participate in an must shoot to kill. upcoming national-level camp of activ- May I ask you a question? Why are no questions raised by fact-finding ists at the Bhonsala Military School, teams about the arms hauls in Malegaon and Aurangabad and the identity of Nagpur. Parade and three of his disci- the accused who have been arrested? The haul is there for all to see. The ples from Pune carried 300 sticks with accused are alive, not dead. No parents or relatives have cried foul saying them for this camp, said Bhate. Why was that they are victims of a ‘false arrest’. Do you have any idea of the amount of Bhate not named among the accused ammunition hauled? Huge caches of AK-47s – no one can say that they had by the investigating agencies, not even been falsely placed there by us! RDX in quantities several times’ larger than by the ATS? what was found and used in the multiple bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993. Bhate stated that on arriving at Nanded is a serious development and has frightening repercussions if the Bhonsala Military School he learnt we find, through investigations, that this was not an isolated incident that the camp had been organised by but also part of an organised pattern. But the incident that was foiled in the RSS to give karate, ground obsta- Nagpur and the arms hauls in Malegaon and Aurangabad – which we see as cles and revolver firing training to par- distinct and separate transactions – cannot simply be underplayed or over- ticipants. Two retired ex-servicemen looked either. who were present at the camp trained

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 7 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST participants in revolver handling. Also carried out at regular intervals in dif- tions 18 (attempting to commit or abet- attending was a senior retired officer ferent districts of Maharashtra. The ob- ting a terrorist act) and 23 (unauthor- from the Intelligence Bureau (IB). In vious conclusion drawn was that it was ised possession of bombs, etc with in- all there were 115 participants from all the intention of Bajrang Dal activists tent to aid terrorist act) of the Unlaw- over India at the camp. and their sangh parivar affiliates to tar- ful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 (as Govind Nagacharya Puranik, a get Muslims with terrorist acts and make amended in 2004). BSNL employee at the Nanded tel- it appear that Muslim extremists were The most serious charges against the ephone exchange, also played a key involved in targeting fellow Muslims. accused, and for which the most strin- role in the nefarious activities. A mem- This would help advance the sangh gent punishments are provided, are the ber of the parivar’s agenda of spreading hatred ones that fall within the purview of the trade union affiliated to the RSS, against Indian Muslims, projecting them Unlawful Activities Act and Section 304 Puranik revealed in his recorded state- as the perpetrators of every blast in city of the IPC. (See box for punishments pro- ments to the police and the ATS be- after city in India. vided under the former.) tween April and June 2006 that he had The first charge sheet filed by the After conducting further investiga- been attending RSS camps since 2000. ATS on August 24, 2006 named seven tions the ATS filed a supplementary Puranik, a well-educated man, was fully accused – Rahul Pande, Laxman G. charge sheet on November 11, 2006 aware of the terrorist designs of Rajkondwar, Sanjay Choudhary, Ramdas naming four more accused – Maroti Himanshu Panse, Naresh Rajkondwar, Mulange, Dr Umesh Deshpande, Wagh, Yogesh D. Vidulkar, Gururaj Jairam Rahul Pande and others. He nonethe- Himanshu Panse (deceased) and Naresh Tuptewar and Milind Ektate. They too less provided logistical support for Rajkondwar (deceased). (Maroti Wagh, were slapped with identical charges. their criminal activities for a number of years. He financed and helped the To its credit, the ATS did a reasonable job at the level accused persons both before and af- ter the Nanded incident. Fearing an of investigation. It appears from what follows that at arrest, Puranik filed an anticipatory some point in the course of proceedings the ATS took a bail application before the sessions sudden U-turn. A public outcry then forced the court, Nanded. The court readily government to transfer the case from the ATS to the granted him anticipatory bail! Also implicated by the ATS was CBI. But the CBI’s conduct was questionable in the Shrikar Shivsambh Sonwale, a Nanded extreme; doing little to follow up on the many leads resident. In a recorded statement to the provided by the ATS, it only served to weaken the case. ATS in May 2006 Sonwale admitted to a close friendship with several of the main Yogesh D. Vidulkar and Gururaj Jairam However, none of the abetters or mas- accused in the Nanded incident. He Tuptewar, who were all present at the terminds behind the conspiracy, Mithun stated that while they were drinking bomb-making site, were absent from the Chakraborty or Bajrang Dal leaders, were together one evening Maroti Wagh had first list of accused). incriminated. told him in great detail how Himanshu They were charged under Sections To its credit, the ATS did a reason- Panse and he had detonated a bomb in 304 (culpable homicide not amounting able job at the level of investigation, a Parbhani mosque (November 2003). to murder), 286 (negligent conduct), uncovering a hitherto unknown terror- This showed that Sonwale knew about 338 (grievous hurt), 201(destroying ist network in Maharashtra of Hindu Wagh and Panse’s involvement in a ter- evidence), 202 (withholding informa- extremists linked to the sangh parivar. rorist act. But he withheld this vital tion on a crime), 203 (providing false Given the seriousness of the case, evi- information from the police. Had he information), 212 (harbouring an of- dent through its own findings, one informed the police at that point in fender), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 34 would have expected the ATS to pro- time Panse and gang could have been (common intent) and 109 (abetment) ceed with both promptitude and deter- apprehended and the explosions that of the Indian Penal Code (IPC); along mination to ensure that all those who followed at other places could have been with Sections 3 (causing an explosion were guilty were brought to book and prevented. likely to endanger life, person or prop- the terrorist network was exposed. The The search operation at Panse’s erty), 4 (attempting to cause or mak- two charge sheets filed by the ATS do house unearthed items of disguise – an ing or keeping explosives likely to en- not however reflect the very gravity of artificial beard, shervani, etc – used in danger life or damage property), 5 (mak- its findings. It appears from what fol- order to assume the appearance of a ing explosives under suspicious circum- lows that at some point in the course Muslim. The police and the ATS collected stances) and 6 (abetment) of the Ex- of proceedings the ATS took a sudden sufficient evidence against all the ac- plosive Substances Act 1908; Sections U-turn. A public outcry then forced the cused to establish that they were per- 3, 25 and 35 (unlawful possession of government to transfer the case from petrators and masterminds of the blasts arms) of the Arms Act 1959; and Sec- the ATS to the CBI. But the CBI’s con-

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 8 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS MAHARASHTRA duct was questionable in the extreme; has not explored any leads on the train- Wagh, Jairam D. Tuptewar, Deviprasad doing little to follow up on the many ing and finance provided to the terror- Jairam Tuptewar, Raju Vithalrao leads provided by the ATS, it only served ist network, leaving gaping holes in the Choudhary, Ravindra Ramrao Vidulkar to weaken the case. bureau’s charge sheet. and Mukul Ramesh Pande. From their The investigating agencies them- The ATS, despite evidence gathered names it appears that some of these men selves warrant investigation and this is through investigations and supple- are relatives of some of the accused. CC’s “charge sheet” against them. mented by narco analysis test reports, Was the ATS acting under political was similarly reluctant to probe the role pressure, prompting it to make a U-turn State police: inefficient or biased? of institutions like the Bhonsala Mili- at the last minute only to shield many What is the explanation for the tary School in Nagpur or the Akanksha of the accused? Maharashtra police’s earlier failure in Resort in Sinhgad, Pune, in the possi- The ATS had earlier charged all identifying and booking the real per- ble training of terror groups. 21 accused with seven crimes, three petrators of the bomb blasts at the “During the course of investigation, of which related to the bomb blasts Parbhani, Jalna and Purna mosques which took place in 2003 and 2004, two years be- fore the blasts in Nanded? A lack of professionalism in in- telligence-gathering and in conducting investigations? A sanghi mind-set that believes only members of a certain community would commit ter- rorist acts? Or intentionally shielding the guilty, acting ei- ther of its own volition or under political pressure? ATS: Half measures? On July 29, 2006 the ATS sought permission from the district collector, Nanded, to file its charge sheet against 21 accused persons. To make such a plea the ATS must have been confident that it had suffi- cient evidence to prove that all 21 persons were party to the crime. But inexplicably, barely three weeks later it Terror squads wrote to the additional chief secretary of Maharashtra, seeking sanc- no sufficient evidence is found against at Parbhani, Purna and Jalna. What tion for the prosecution of only seven the below-mentioned arrested accused stopped the ATS from booking them persons from its own list of 21 accused, persons hence they are discharged from under the draconian Maharashtra dropping all charges against 11 others the case vide Section 169 CrPC,” said Control of Organised Crime Act and seeking permission to bring forth the ATS missive addressed to the addi- (MCOCA) which the ATS freely ap- evidence against the remaining two – tional chief secretary. The ATS then pro- plied in the 7/11 blasts, the Advocate Milind Ektate and the elusive ceeded to file its charge sheet on Au- Malegaon blasts and the Aurangabad Mithun Chakraborty – only one of whom gust 24, 2006 along with a request to RDX haul? was ultimately charged. (As mentioned discharge 11 accused, absolving them (CC agrees with other human rights earlier, a supplementary charge sheet of any links to the crime. activists and groups who argue that added four more persons, including The accused persons whom the ATS given the right professional orientation Ektate but not Chakraborty, to the list wanted to discharge were: Vinod and training, the existing laws of the of accused.) Mithun Chakraborty was Venkatrao Mahalkar, Santosh Prakash land are more than adequate for the po- mysteriously excluded from the scope Parlikar, Nimesh Sudhakar Limaye, lice to deal with even the worst kinds of further investigation even after the Janardhan Yashwantrao Wakodikar, of crime. Conferring greater powers on CBI took over the case. In fact, the CBI Santosh Keshavrao Wagh, Keshavrao P. an inept, unprofessional and highly po-

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 9 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST

Punishment for terrorist activities (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967)

What constitutes a terrorist act (Sec. 15): Punishment possessing explosives etc. for aiding terror- Whoever, with intent to threaten the unity, integrity, secu- ism (Sec. 23): rity or sovereignty of India or to strike terror in the people or (1) If any person with intent to aid any terrorist contravenes any section of the people in India or in any foreign country, any provision of, or any rule made under the Explosives Act 1884 does any act by using bombs, dynamite or other explosive sub- or the Explosive Substances Act 1908 or the Inflammable Sub- stances or inflammable substances or firearms or other lethal stances Act 1952 or the Arms Act 1959, or is in unauthorised weapons or poisons or noxious gases or other chemicals or by possession of any bomb, dynamite or hazardous explosive sub- any other substances (whether biological or otherwise) of a stance or other lethal weapon or substance capable of mass de- hazardous nature, in such a manner as to cause, or likely to struction or biological or chemical substance of warfare, he shall, cause, death of, or injuries to any person or persons or loss of, notwithstanding anything contained in any of the aforesaid acts or or damage to, or destruction of, property or disruption of any the rules made thereunder, be punishable with imprisonment for a supplies or services essential to the life of the community in term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend India or in any foreign country or causes damage or destruction to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. of any property or equipment used or intended to be used for (2) Any person who, with intent to aid any terrorist, attempts the defence of India or in connection with any other purposes to contravene or abets, or does any act preparatory to contra- of the , any state government or any of vention of any provision of any law or rule specified in subsection their agencies, or detains any person and threatens to kill or (1), shall be deemed to have contravened that provision under injure such person in order to compel the government in India subsection (1) and the provisions of that subsection in relation to or the government of a foreign country or any other person to such person, have effect subject to the modification that the do or abstain from doing any act, commits a terrorist act. reference to “imprisonment for life” therein shall be construed Punishment for terrorist (Sec. 16): as a reference to “imprisonment for ten years”. Whoever commits a terrorist act shall – Definition of a terrorist gang (Sec. 4l): (a) if such act has resulted in the death of any person, be “Terrorist gang” means any association, other than terrorist punishable with death or imprisonment for life, and shall also organisation, whether systematic or otherwise, which is con- be liable to fine; cerned with, or involved in, terrorist act. (b) in any other case, be punishable with imprisonment for a Definition of a terrorist organisation (Sec. 4m): term which shall not be less than five years but which may “Terrorist organisation” means an organisation listed in the extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. schedule or an organisation operating under the same name as Punishment for funding terrorist act (Sec. 17): an organisation so listed; Whoever raises funds for the purpose of committing a terrorist Definition of unlawful activity (Sec. 4o): act shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall “Unlawful activity”, in relation to an individual or asso- not be less than five years but which may extend to imprisonment ciation, means any action taken by such individual or asso- for life, and shall also be liable to fine. ciation (whether by committing an act or by words, either Punishment for being part of terrorist conspiracy (Sec. 18): spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation Whoever conspires or attempts to commit, or advocates, abets, or otherwise) – advises or incites or knowingly facilitates the commission of a (i) which is intended, or supports any claim, to bring about, terrorist act, or any act preparatory to the commission of a on any ground whatsoever, the cession of a part of the territory terrorist act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term of India or the secession of a part of the territory of India from which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to the union, or which incites any individual or group of individu- imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. als to bring about such cession or secession; or Punishment for hiding terrorist (Sec. 19): (ii) which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to disrupt Whoever voluntarily harbours or conceals, or attempts to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India; or harbour or conceal any person knowing that such person is a (iii) which causes or is intended to cause disaffection terrorist shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which against India shall not be less than three years but which may extend to Definition of unlawful activity (Sec. 4p): imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine: “Unlawful association” means any association – Provided that this section shall not apply to any case in which (i) which has for its object any unlawful activity, or which the harbour or concealment is by the spouse of the offender. encourages or aids persons to undertake any unlawful activity, Punishment for being member of terrorist gang or organisa- or of which the members undertake such activity; or tion (Sec. 20): (ii) which has for its object any activity which is punish- Any person who is a member of a terrorist gang or a terrorist able under Section 153A or Section 153B of the Indian organisation, which is involved in terrorist act, shall be punishable Penal Code, or which encourages or aids persons to under- with imprisonment for a term which may extend to imprisonment take any such activity, or of which the members undertake for life, and shall also be liable to fine. any such activity

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 10 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS MAHARASHTRA liticised police force through draconian Acts of commission The CBI holds the six accused who laws like MCOCA will only result in the The two ATS charge sheets accuse 11 were present at the explosion spot (and misuse of these powers even against persons of being part of a criminal con- who died or were seriously injured in innocent citizens. But given that an spiracy involving terrorist acts: a very the incident) as collectively responsi- act like MCOCA does exist, why is it serious charge against all of them. But ble only for the following offences: for being selectively used? Do our inves- the CBI did not even consider the pos- causing the explosion with the full tigating agencies also discriminate sibility of such a conspiracy. In glaring knowledge that such an explosion can between “good terrorists” and “bad contrast to the ATS approach, it simply claim lives (Sec. 304, IPC: culpable terrorists”?). refused to explore the forward or back- homicide not amounting to murder), for ward linkages to the accidental explo- negligent conduct (Sec. 286, IPC), for CBI: Operation Cover-up? causing grievous injury (Sec. Considering the circum- 338, IPC), for possession and stances in which the CBI control of explosive sub- was brought into the pic- stances (Sec. 4b and 5, Ex- ture, one would have ex- plosives Substances Act) and pected the country’s pre- for unauthorised possession mier investigating agency of 10 live cartridges (Sec. 25 to conduct nothing less of the Arms Act). than a thorough, free, fair As for the other four co- and transparent investiga- accused – Sanjay Choudhary, tion so that the real cul- Ramdas Mulange, Dr Umesh prits and masterminds of Deshpande and Milind Arvind the crime could be identi- Ektate – the charges against fied, caught and pun- them are limited to: culpable ished. Instead, the CBI homicide not amounting to chose to function behind murder (Sec. 304, IPC), neg- a veil of secrecy, refusing ligent conduct with respect to brief the public at all to explosives (Sec. 286, IPC), about the investigations grievous hurt to others (Sec. and thus raising suspicions 338, IPC), intentional omis- about its unprofessional sion to give information of conduct. an offence (Sec. 202, IPC), Although the CBI sub- harbouring an offender (Sec. mitted its charge sheet in 212, IPC), and abetment of the case more than five an assault (Sec. 134, IPC). months ago, CC had to Laxman G. Rajkondwar, the make repeated applica- owner of house where the tions under the Right to explosion took place, who, Information Act before we according to the ATS charge were allowed to access the sheet, was as involved in the charge sheet and the ac- crime as his deceased son, companying records. And has been let off the hook. the reason why the au- In short, the Unlawful Ac- thorities were so reluctant tivities (Prevention) Act 1967 to part with these docu- (as amended in 2004) was conspicuously not applied against any ments becomes evident from a perusal sion at Laxman Rajkondwar’s house in of the accused. Similarly, Section 120B of the charge sheet. Far from rising April 2006 except to the very limited to the occasion, the CBI has proved of the IPC, for criminal conspiracy, has extent of naming those who sheltered unwilling or incapable of pursuing not been applied against anyone. the injured fugitive, Rahul Pande, from the leads provided to it by the ATS investigations. Far worse, it has the police or gave him surreptitious medi- Acts of omission ended up diluting the ATS case. Pre- cal help. The CBI divided the 11 accused The CBI’s acts of omission are as se- sented below are some of the obvious into three categories and then proceeded rious, if not more so, than its acts of lacunae in the CBI’s charge sheet, ex- to completely dilute the charges against commission: amples of the bureau’s acts of commis- 10 of them. The one remaining accused For the ATS the accidental explo- sion and omission: was absolved of all charges. sion in Nanded turns out to be only one

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 11 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST episode in a diabolical terrorist plot sons had with the RSS, the Bajrang Dal followed up on the leads that the ATS involving a nefarious network of and the VHP. Why? investigation provided. Bajrang Dal activists functioning with The ATS investigation clearly es- The ATS named Laxman covert support from other wings of the tablishes the existence of a terrorist Rajkondwar, the owner of the house sangh parivar. But for the CBI the sole nexus operating under the wider sangh in which the blast occurred, among concern appears to be to treat the parivar umbrella. The CBI should have the prime accused. But the CBI charge Nanded incident as an isolated case followed this up after it took charge sheet absolves him of all charges. In- so that the trial, which is conducted of the case. What is the real agenda of vestigators found that firecrackers on the basis of the charge sheet, does the Bhonsala Military School in Nagpur? worth Rs 1,20,000 had been illegally not even examine the possible exist- Who owns and runs the Akanksha Re- stored at the site. Such a large quan- ence of a terrorist network in sort in Pune? Is it linked in some way tity of highly combustible material Maharashtra. A network that is en- with the Bajrang Dal/VHP/RSS? Who would undoubtedly have blown up in gaged in hate-mongering, is linked to among the RSS/VHP were involved and the blast. Thus the only inference one institutions where former intelligence where in Goa were the Bajrang Dal ac- can make is that the stock of fireworks officials and army men train cadres in tivists trained? Who are the financiers, was put in place after the blasts, as a the handling of arms and explosives, trainers (Mithun Chakraborty and subterfuge. From where was such a and which collects funds and provides Sanatkumar Ragvithal Bhate) and other large stock of firecrackers procured at other logistical support. individuals who actively participated, such short notice? This is a question Why did the ATS not apply the either directly or indirectly, in perpe- that does not seem to concern the CBI. provisions of MCOCA to the accused trating terror attacks? Who are the re- How did the CBI allow Laxman when according to its own find- tired officers of the military and intel- Rajkondwar to go scot-free? ings the accused were implicated ligence services who provided martial The CBI not only chose to com- in terrorist acts? This is a ques- arts and military training to Bajrang pletely disregard the information gath- tion that the CBI should have Dal activists? Why have officers who ered by the ATS through narco tests con- probed. But it did not even raise during their professional careers swore ducted on four of the accused (see box), the subject. Why not? to serve secular-democratic India now but also gave little credence to the in- Contrary to the findings of the chosen to place themselves at the serv- criminating material seized during ATS, the CBI does not utter a word ice of Hindu extremists? For reasons house searches and the admissions of about the links that the accused per- best known to itself the CBI has not some of the accused during interroga-

The Bhonsala School The CBI did not find it necessary to probe the possible library. The school also maintains a health centre with full- role of the Bhonsala Military School in the training meted time medical personnel. out to young recruits of the sangh’s bomb-making bri- “Boys between nine-and-a-half and 10-and-a-half years gade as revealed by the ATS investigations. The school of age are admitted to Class V, which is the lowest class in has two known branches – in Nashik and in Nagpur. the school. A number of scholarships have been instituted A quick exploration of the websites of both branches by the state government and the society for deserving reveals that the inspiration behind the Bhonsala Military students. The KC Mahindra Education Foundation also of- School was ‘Dharmaveer’ Dr BS Moonje, a founder of the fers some scholarships. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Clearly then, the in- “The motto of the school, as given by the founder, stitute is at least ideologically tied to the sangh parivar. aptly and precisely sums up the aim of the school. It is The school is graced by regular visits from senior army not obligatory on part of the students of the school officials: to join the military services. However, those who are “Dr BS Moonje was a firm believer in military training really willing to join the noble profession of arms will to Indian youth; he formed the Central Hindu Military certainly find their training useful towards their aim. Education Society at Nashik in 1937 and started the school Whereas the rest will find themselves mentally and on June 12, 1937. It started functioning in the ‘surgana physically fit to pursue any career in the present com- palace’, Nashik city, with 90 students. It moved to its petitive world. present location, named ‘Rambhoomi’ by Dr Moonje, on “Air Marshal JS Apte, senior maintenance staff officer of September 1, 1938. HQ Maintenance Command, IAF, visited Bhonsala Military “Spread over 65 hectares of land surrounded by azure School, Nagpur, in 2007. Air Marshal Apte appreciated the hilly landscape, the school campus consists of the main high standards achieved by the school in all spheres of school building, 14 bhawans (hostels), a common mess, activities. He congratulated all ranks of the school for their playground (including a 400m athletic track), stables and dedication and committed hard work put up by them for a riding school. The academic section has a well-stocked the glory of their institution. ”

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 12 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS MAHARASHTRA tion. If the CBI had acted as it should, dred of them from all over India were Is “Hindu terrorism” now an inte- it would have applied for the earlier similarly trained at the Bhonsala Mili- gral part of the sangh parivar’s “Hate cases of bomb blasts by several of those tary School in Nagpur. While the Pune Muslims” agenda, at least for the Bajrang accused in the Nanded blasts (in camp was organised by the Bajrang Dal, Dal, acting with the covert blessing of mosques in Parbhani, Jalna and Purna the Nagpur one was organised by its and logistical support from sections in 2003 and 2004) to be clubbed to- parent body, the RSS. And while those within the VHP and even the RSS? gether and prosecuted as part of a directly involved in lobbing the bombs How do we know that the Bajrang wider conspiracy. Had it done so it were Bajrang Dal members, there are clear Dal and others have not been conduct- could also have set into motion the indications that the RSS and the VHP ing similar bomb training camps in many stringent provisions of states other than Maharashtra? the Unlawful Activities (Preven- (After all, but for the bomb blow- tion) Act: Section 16 (commit- ing up accidentally in Nanded ting a terrorist act), Section 17 the Maharashtra police might (punishment for funding a ter- still be clueless about the peo- rorist act), Section 18 (being ple involved in the local terror part of a terrorist conspiracy), plot. The way investigations Section 19 (punishment for have been conducted into the harbouring a terrorist) and second accidental blast in most importantly, Section 20 Nanded in 2007 – see accompa- (punishment for being a mem- nying story – raises other seri- ber of a terrorist gang). The ous issues.) findings of the ATS leave little Has communal violence now room for doubt that the Bajrang donned a terrorist garb on both Dal falls well within the act’s sides of the communal divide? definition of a “terrorist gang”. If as part of their strategy To pursue this line of investi- Hindu extremists disguise them- gation the CBI would no doubt selves as Muslims and then en- have needed to follow up on gage in terrorist activity, could the leads provided by the ATS. they also be responsible for But, as mentioned earlier, it sending out emails claiming re- was disinclined to even con- sponsibility for blasts under as- sider the option. sumed Muslim names and using an Islamic vocabulary? Conclusion How then can we know who Through its creditworthy in- is responsible for the series of vestigation of the accidental blasts that have ripped through blast in Nanded, the ATS un- a succession of Indian cities? covered a dangerous terrorist What then of national se- network. Its investigations re- curity, public peace and com- vealed that the bomb blasts at Villainous conspiracy munal harmony? Parbhani, Jalna, Purna and Nanded Are our investigating and were no ordinary crimes with simple also form part of the nexus. The men intelligence agencies also handicapped motives. Involved in each of them were who imparted this training to the by their ideological blinkers insomuch activists of the Bajrang Dal who had Dal’s cadres included retired officers as they are blind to or soft on acts of sought and received systematic train- of the country’s military and intelli- “Hindu terrorism”? ing from experts in bomb-making and gence services. The spate of blasts in and bomb explosion. Their insidious acts According to the admissions of sev- in May-June 2008 where once again some Hindu extremist outfits have of terror at mosques include not just eral of the accused, their agenda was been implicated lends an added urgency planting the bombs but also disguis- to challenge what they regarded as to these questions. Given the CBI’s mis- ing themselves as Muslims while com- “Muslim bombs” with “Hindu bombs”. At erable failure in taking the ATS investi- mitting the crimes. the same time it was clearly part of the gations forward, only an open and in The ATS investigations further re- Hindu extremist strategy to make their depth inquiry carried out by a high court vealed that it was not just a handful malevolent actions appear as if they were judge will help trace the tentacles of but as many as three dozen Bajrang Dalis the work of Muslim extremists. this hitherto unsuspected monster that from all over Maharashtra who received All of this is truly sinister and raises threatens national security, public peace training in Pune where more than a hun- several very disturbing questions: and harmony.

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 13 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST Nanded accused indict themselves

Based on the ATS narco analysis reports to safeguard the rights of Hindu women. At one of the meetings that Himanshu had set up Himanshu enjoined all those Sanjay alias Bhaurao Vithalrao Sanjay also revealed that in the Jalna present to join the fight against Paki- Choudhary blast Rahul had accompanied Himanshu. stan-supported Muslim terrorism. Himanshu was his friend and was in- In all the blasts the main leader was He revealed that Himanshu wanted to volved in the Parbhani (mosque) blast. He Yogesh Vidulkar and Himanshu was next take revenge on terrorists like Abu Salem (Sanjay) owned a gym in partnership with in line. Himanshu had more faith in who, he said, had blasted a bomb at In- Rahul Pande. He would often go to Pune, Naresh Rajkondwar. Regarding Gururaj, dia Gate (Gateway of India) in Mumbai, as he had his brothers there, staying near he said that during one of his visits to killing lots of innocent people. He added Sinhgad. Regarding the training to pre- the gym he had seen Gururaj with that during the meeting Himanshu had pare the bombs, he said that there were Himanshu. Sanjay said that he belonged talked against terrorist Abu Salem and four of them (who received training): him- to the SC (scheduled caste) category Dawood Ibrahim for going unpunished self, Maroti Wagh, Himanshu Panse and and these people had identified him for even though they had committed a series Yogesh Deshpande Vidulkar who had un- his boldness and had helped him in his of crimes. So they decided to target the dergone training at Sinhgad in Pune. education. Muslim population in general. By doing He said that he did not know so they thought they would safeguard whether Himanshu had undergone any Hindus. Himanshu had thus decided of the training programmes earlier or to take revenge by blasting bombs and (whether this was) for the first time. killing a minimum of 300-400 Mus- He said that the training programme lims. They would be treated as hijras was for two-three days. They were (transsexuals) if no retaliatory action trained to prepare three types of bombs. were taken, he had said. (He gives details of the three types.) Sanjay said the bomb that was pre- Regarding the explosive material pared and kept at Naresh’s residence (used), he said that both red and white was to be blasted at the Aurangabad powders are used and the bombs they masjid near the railway station on Id had learnt to prepare were very small. day in 2006. The plan to blast the The person who had given them bomb at Aurangabad was triggered by training was called ‘Sir’ by Himanshu. the blast (targeting the His name was Mithun Chakraborty. He Sankat Mochan temple in March 2006). had a beard, was tall and stoutly built. Himanshu had said that he would After the training Chakraborty gave carry out his plan after he received an them a bag containing the materials order over the phone from a senior used for preparing a bomb. leader. He said that he would not carry About the blast at the Parbhani out the plan until he received the order. (mosque), Sanjay said that Himanshu Sanjay said Himanshu often called up Himanshu had a separate SIM card had asked him to visit Pune to meet an senior leaders, Balaji Pakhare and other for receiving these orders. Sanjay had leaders of the RSS in Mumbai. Himanshu important person. Neither Himanshu nor also received a phone call where the was receiving financial support for these “the important person”, who met him caller told him not to be afraid and that on his arrival at Pune station and drove activities from the Bajrang Dal and RSS (if need be) he would get him released him to the Kshatriya Lodge himself, dis- in Mumbai and Pune. closed his name. Nobody visited Sanjay Regarding the explosion at Naresh’s from jail at the earliest. He said that during his stay at the Lodge and he was house (in Nanded), he said that Naresh the caller was from the Bajrang Dal and advised not to go outside. On and Himanshu had died on the spot. his name was Balaji Pakhare. He was a Himanshu’s suggestion, Sanjay travelled He said following this blast there was resident of Bajrang Nagar (Nanded). to Pune and checked into the Lodge in no leader for their group. Sanjay added (Narco analysis test conducted at the his real name. Himanshu paid for all the that he was now afraid, as they had in- Forensic Science Laboratory – FSL, expenses and asked Sanjay to remain in dulged in illegal activities. However, Bangalore, on June 22, 2006.) Pune for two-three days. Sanjay said that they would keep coming to him (Sanjay) this arrangement was made due to and persuade him to carry out the work Rahul Manoharao Pande Himanshu’s plan to blast a bomb at of fighting terrorism. He was told ter- Rahul said that on the day of the Parbhani. He said that Naresh and rorists had killed (Kashmiri) Pandits at blast he was also present at Naresh’s Maroti had accompanied Himanshu to the Vaishno Devi temple for no reason. (Rajkondwar’s) house. Regarding the Parbhani. All three had travelled on a So they had decided to see to it that profession of Naresh and Himanshu, he bike. He further said it was Himanshu this was not repeated. Himanshu said Naresh was a road contractor and who hurled the bomb. planned to take revenge on Muslims and Himanshu was working in a company.

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 14 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS MAHARASHTRA

He was also an active member of the He said that he had met Naresh twice in were politicians who were there to sup- Bajrang Dal, the RSS and the VHP. the space of four months. Regarding prepa- port him. Also, members of the RSS, VHP Himanshu was a good speaker and in- ration of the bomb, he said that it was pre- and Bajrang Dal were supporting telligent. He (Rahul) said that on the day pared by Himanshu. Regarding the leader of Himanshu. Yogesh from Warad was one of of the blast he was drunk when he went the gang, he said Himanshu was the leader. the leaders who helped Himanshu. The to Naresh’s house. There were five other Regarding the blast at Jalna, Purna and person from Varanasi who helped him was (group) members in the house and they Parbhani (mosques), he said that all the Mukesh. The leader from Nanded who was were talking. Naresh asked him why he blasts had been planned by Himanshu. To helping Himanshu was Govind Puranik. had come to his house after drinking. He accomplish the task of bursting the bomb Regarding the preparation of the bombs, said Naresh put a cigarette in his pocket. at Jalna he had also accompanied Himanshu. he said that two persons had given train- He also said that Himanshu was also an- He said that some of the bomb mate- ing to Himanshu. One of the persons he gry with him for being drunk. He could rials were kept in the gym. The materials named was Mithun Chakraborty from Pune. not understand how the blast took place. to prepare the bomb were brought by Regarding the plan to blast, he told that He felt something hard had hit his head Himanshu from Pune. He said that Rahul it was fixed on Gudi Padwa day. The bomb and he fell unconscious for a while and and Guru were to help him to get the that blasted at Naresh’s house (Nanded) he was told that there was only one bomb materials. Regarding the financial sup- was planned for Id day and the target of the blast was a mosque in Aurangabad. that had blasted at Naresh’s house. port for the tasks to be completed, he Mentioning Praveen Togadia, he said Regarding the other five members who said that he was to help Himanshu, pay- that he had come to their place once were there at the house, he said that ing him from the earnings from the gym. to give a speech. Himanshu was the per- Himanshu, Naresh, Guru, Maroti and Yogesh Guru also helped mobilise funds. son who had made all the arrangements were his friends. He said that after he re- Regarding the preparation of the bomb for Togadia’s visit. He said that Himanshu gained consciousness he was afraid. So that went off at Naresh’s residence, he said had gone to Goa with Yogi in the month he ran away from that place to Pusad. The that Guru had collected around Rs 45- doctor at Pusad treated him for his frac- 50,000 from people for the act. For the of December for sightseeing.” tured hand. When the doctor asked what Jalna blast also, Guru had helped finan- (Narco analysis test conducted at the had happened he told a false story… never cially. Regarding the persons who helped Forensic Science Laboratory – FSL, uttered a word about the bomb blast. and supported Himanshu, he said there Bangalore, on June 7, 2006.) An accident too many

Occurring under similarly suspicious circumstances less than a year after judge, Justice Kolse Patil, and with this the first incident, another blast in Nanded is similarly mishandled by the correspondent as convener, visited police and raises similar demands for a thorough investigation Nanded for an on-the-spot inquiry on February 17 and 18, 2007. During the visit the team met the superintendent ROUND midnight on February the two incidents. Both were acciden- of police, Nanded district, Fatehsingh 9-10, 2007, Nanded town was tal. Those present on the spot in both Patil. In the presence of other senior rocked by yet another acci- incidents were Hindu extremists. And in dental explosion, the second both cases the local police attempted a police officers, Patil stated clearly that in less than a year. This time cover-up. though investigations were still on and itA was a bakery shop: Amol Biscuits. Two The April 2006 incident was sought the police was open to receiving infor- persons were killed in the incident. One to be explained away as an accidental mation from all quarters he was prima of them, Pandurang Bhagwan explosion at a site where fireworks were facie confident that this incident was Amilkanthwar, a former shakha stored. A similar cover-up was attempted nothing like the earlier incident of April pramukh (branch leader) was apparently in the 2007 incident, with the local 2006 and was simply a fire created to also linked to the Bajrang Dal. His cousin, police initially registering a case of ac- claim insurance money. In a separate in- Dnyaneshwar Manikwar, also present on cidental death and injury caused by a terview the inspector general of police the spot, sustained over 70 per cent fire due to an electrical short circuit. (IGP), Nanded range, Dr Suryaprakash burn injuries. Initially admitted to a But a day later the critically injured Gupta, said the same thing. According Nanded hospital, Manikwar was inexpli- Dnyaneshwar Manikwar told senior po- to the police, the fire story made more cably moved to the JJ Hospital in dis- lice officials that in fact his deceased sense because a bomb blast would have tant Mumbai. He succumbed to the burn cousin and he were trapped in a fire they blown the deceased Pandurang to bits. injuries a week after the incident. had intentionally started using five li- It would not just leave his body badly The explosion bore a marked resem- tres of petrol, hoping to make false in- charred. blance to the earlier blast on April 6, surance claims. The team’s investigation however 2006 (see main story on Nanded blasts). A three-member Concerned Citizen’s indicated that the facts on the ground There is a disquieting similarity between Inquiry (CCI) team headed by a retired simply did not cohere with the theory

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 15 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST the police seemed convinced about. burnt and had fallen out. Food items, The team was also told by citizens Following its own field visit and inter- plastic and organic materials used for requesting anonymity that a police of- views with a cross-section of top dis- packing were still lying unburnt in the ficer from a neighbouring police sta- trict officials and local citizens, the CCI godown when the team visited the spot tion who is closely involved in the on- commissioned a team of experts to visit 10 days after the incident. If there was going investigation actually supervised the site and give their findings on what a fire, as the police claimed there was, critical evidentiary material being col- could have caused such an explosion. all these things would have been com- lected and spirited away from the spot. The major findings of the CCI team, in- pletely burnt and the windows and ceil- Taking into consideration all the corporating the findings of the expert ings of the rooms would have been factors mentioned above, the inference group, are as follows: blackened and charred. The plaster on is that it was not a planned explosion According to the police the walls and ceilings displayed cracks but an impact explosion created due to panchnama, the injured person gave indicative of shock and heat effect. The the handling of large stocks of explosive/ two statements to the police while in indicators are that there was a dispro- flammable materials stored here. The han- the Nanded hospital. But the police portionate development of shock waves dling could have been for transporta- panchnama is silent on whether this se- but correspondingly no burns. This sug- tion to another place. verely injured person, who had a tra- gests a blast, not a fire. The CCI’s preliminary findings were cheotomy tube through his throat, was in any position to Nanded, 2007 speak. Nor does the panchnama mention whether the severely injured person was conscious and had any time or place orientation at the time. The explosion hurled the large metal shutter in the shop front across the road to a dis- tance about 40 feet away. Win- dow frames were burnt and glasses cracked. Walls had cracked and the site was in complete disarray. Glass panes of the ventilators located not just in the godown but in neighbouring rooms of the house owned by Shankarrao Shivram Mangalikar, including the kitchen, sitting room and bedroom, had shattered. There were marks of some substances on the kitchen floor. An explosion caused by some un- made public through press conferences A scooter parked on the road out- stable and liquid organic substances organised in Mumbai and in . Over side the godown at a six-seven foot cannot be ruled out. According to the the next year four applications under distance from it was completely charred. expert group, such substances are highly the Right to Information Act were filed Spot inspections by the CCI team unstable, can generate a very high tem- with the police for an update on their and photographic evidence showed perature, start a fierce chemical reac- investigations but no reply was forth- that the gas cylinder in the kitchen tion resulting in an ignition, then coming. In response to a complaint in adjacent to the bakery shop re- flames and thereafter an explosion. The this regard filed by this correspondent mained completely unscathed. This flames are at such high temperatures that in mid-June 2008, the Maharashtra would be inexplicable in case of a a person can be burnt alive in five-10 State Human Rights Commission has is- fire fuelled by five litres of petrol in seconds. This is the most plausible cause sued a notice to the police. The hear- the adjacent room. of the explosion in the godown. ing is scheduled for mid-September. The godown had two wooden There was no explanation from — TS doors, one iron shutter, one window the authorities for the existence of and two ventilators. One door flew and nails and blades strewn in some quan- (A full report of the preliminary findings landed in the hall because of the ex- tity around the godown. These could of the Concerned Citizen’s Inquiry is plosion. The ventilators did not have have been used as pellets for the po- available at any glass. One window was broken and tential explosive. www.sabrang.com/nanded/nanded.htm.)

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 16 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS MAHARASHTRA Sequel of terror

February 20, 2008: A bomb Thane, June 2008 is planted at the Cineraj cin- ema in Panvel town, about 50 km from Mumbai, during a screening of the film, Jodha Akbar. Fortunately, the bomb caused no more stir than a small firecracker and went unnoticed until the end of the show. May 31 2008: The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) from the police de- partment defuses a bomb found in a plastic carrier bag at an auditorium in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. The bag contained batteries, gelatine sticks, deto- nators and ammonium nitrate. Fortunately again, no damage was done. June 4, 2008: A bomb ex- plodes in the Gadkari Rangayatan theatre in Thane where a Marathi play, Amhi premises of another Hindu organisa- The ATS also seized 19 gelatine Pachpute, was due to be staged. Seven tion called the (SS). sticks, 20 detonators, two timers and persons are injured. Set up in 1999, the SS, a revivalist three circuits, which were dumped in group run by Janajagruti the Balganga river in Pen. The police HO was targeting cinema Samiti, has an ashram in Sukhapur vil- also seized six batteries, one timer halls and auditoriums on lage near Panvel. and half a dozen detonators from the the outskirts of Mumbai By June 23, the ATS had arrested six Satara residence of another accused, with such alarming fre- Hindu extremists belonging to the Mangesh Nikam. quency and why? The Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu “We are proud of what we did to de- ATSW team of the Maharashtra police Janajagruti Samiti (HJS). It later learnt ter those who were trying to show our suspected that Hindu extremist or- that the two organisations were gods and goddesses in poor light,” the ganisations were behind the blasts, closely associated. The first two to be accused reportedly told the investiga- as some of these groups had been nabbed – Hanumant Gadkari (50) and tors. “We have extracted the names of protesting against the film and the Mangesh Dinkar Nikam (34) – be- the places from where the material used play for weeks. Their grouse was that longed both to the SS and the HJS. in the bombs was bought by the ac- Hindu gods and goddesses were be- Two more sevaks (activists) of the cused. We know where the circuit ma- ing shown in a poor light and per- Sanatan Sanstha, Santosh Angre (26) terial, the ammonium nitrate and the mission to stage such plays or films and Vikram Bhave (26), allegedly part timer were bought. We also know the must not be granted. of the network that reportedly planted place from where the soldering work was Working on their assumption, 16 the bombs at the Bhave auditorium done for the bomb. In fact, the accused teams of the ATS checked the records in Vashi and Thane’s Gadkari had availed of a 10 per cent discount of all vehicles that entered the Rangayatan, were the next to be ar- on the timer,” said the ATS chief, premises of the Gadkari Rangayatan rested by the ATS. Unemployed, Angre Hemant Karkare. theatre on June 4. After cross-check- and Bhave were full-time residents of The ATS is also examining the ing the list with the RTO the police the Sanatan Sanstha ashram. records of those arrested for the Jalna, pinpointed a motorcycle that was reg- On June 23, the Anti-Terrorism Squad Purna and Parbhani mosque blasts to istered in the name of a Hindu trust, (ATS) also arrested Dr Hemant Chalke, a check if there was any connection be- the Guru Kripa Pratisthan. The police member of Sanatan Sanstha, for con- tween the accused in the cases and then traced the organisation’s office ducting a recce of Vashi’s Bhave thea- whether the SS and the HJS have any to Panvel where it is located in the tre where a bomb was found on May 31. organisational links.

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 17 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST

According to information gathered the play, Amhi Pachpute, was being organisation of many bodies’, said: “We and made public by the ATS, in early staged on May 31. But it was found and cannot deny their association with us January this year activists of the defused before any damage was done. but we had nothing to do with the blast. Sanatan Sanstha, which is known for the Gadkari and Nikam are held responsible Sanatan Sanstha will never support such ashrams it operates across the state, for the three blasts between February violent acts,” said Abhay Vartak, the or- decided that to stop the ‘wrongful’ por- and June. Nikam was allegedly also in- ganisation’s spokesperson. “Our protests trayal of Hindu gods and goddesses they volved in a February 2006 case in which have always been peaceful, through dia- needed to send out a ‘loud’ message. a bomb was planted outside the home logue,” said Dr Uday Dhuri, coordinator They tried to put together a crude bomb of a Catholic family in Ratnagiri. of HJS’ Mumbai chapter. made of gunpowder and attempted to The Sanatan Sanstha was quick to The SS also condemned the blast set it off, using a fuse wire, at a cem- deny any organisational responsibility through an editorial in its SS newspa- etery in Raigad district. The attempt or link to the blasts. At a press confer- per, Sanatan Prabhat, but with a rider: failed. Their choice of location for the ence held soon after the arrests both “Though we condemn the act, the mind- trial, a cemetery, is significant. the SS and the , set and the anger of these (arrested) This was before they met Nikam, who the latter claiming to be an ‘umbrella people should be understood and the turned out to be the mocking of Hindu perfect complement to gods should be Gadkari. Nikam’s past ex- ‘Our investigation is raising serious questions’ stopped.” perience and knowledge The HJS, whose de- in the use of high in- Hemant Karkare, head of the Anti-Terrorism Squad, Maharashtra, clared aim is “uniting tensity explosives like told the media soon after Gadkari and Nikam had been interrogated Hindus globally”, has gelatine was comple- by the ATS that the bombings were “definitely terrorist acts as they no headquarters or mented by Gadkari’s were carried out by people motivated by an ideology”. He added formal membership. knowledge of electric that if the organisations to which the men belonged were found to But it has a strong circuits (he was an elec- be involved in the planning or the execution of these incidents, online presence. It trician). Following some the ATS would “certainly write to the centre and seek that they be owes its genesis to an basic research the group banned”. CC spoke to Karkare in the second week of August on the October 2002 meet- assembled its first im- progress of investigations. Excerpts from the interview: ing where Hindu dei- provised explosive de- ties were “blasphe- vice (IED) containing Q: What stage have the investigations into the Thane-Panvel- mously criticised” and two gelatine sticks, 300 Vashi blasts reached? the lone man who pro- A: We are on the verge of filing the charge sheets, which we will gm of ammonium ni- tested was attacked. accomplish within the legally stipulated 60 days’ time. trate, detonators and a “With a view to pro- battery-powered electric Q: Can we expect some major breakthroughs? test against this at- circuit as a trigger A: Some recovery of material is pending. Also, on the basis of tack, all Hindu or- mechanism. This was the the investigations and confessional statements we are still inquir- ganisations came to- device they exploded at ing into the persons who gave shelter to the accused, those who gether and the Hindu the Cineraj cinema in bought the materials that went into making the explosives, etc, Janajagruti Samiti Panvel on February 20, the organisational links. was established on without much success. October 13, 2002 [at Three months later, Q: Have any organisational links been established? the] initiative of according to the ATS, A: Our investigation is raising serious questions. The organisa- seekers of Sanatan the group had upgraded tions, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, the Dharmakranti Sena and Sanstha,” says the its skills enough to as- the Sanatan Sanstha, all have full-timers. Then there is also the outfit’s website. Cur- semble a second, more Guru Kripa Pratisthan. The SS ashram is large, can house a hun- rently, the group’s sophisticated IED. dred people, ostensibly learning yoga… The question our investi- global agenda is to Though similar in com- gation is asking is can we charge sheet these organisations? Were protest against the position to the earlier these acts furthering the objectives of these organisations? They “anti-Hindu” Holly- one, it was operated by are all trusts with the charity commissioner. We are investigating wood movie, The Love a far more refined trig- the sources of their funding with the charity commissioner. Are Guru, and “anti- ger mechanism – a dig- there common sources of funding, etc? Can they be linked to the Hindu textbooks” for ital timer controlled by acquisition of violent substances? schoolchildren in a remote control device. The Sanatan Sanstha also publishes a regular newspaper, the Goa, and to save the The group planted this Sanatan Prabhat, from four centres – Ponda (Goa), Navi Mumbai, Ram Sethu. Indore or Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh and North . IED at Vashi’s Vishnudas Media investiga- Bhave Natyagruha where tions and reports of

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 18 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS MAHARASHTRA a sinister network of Thane, June 2008 decades and also set up hard line Hindu outfits the Indian Society of across Maharashtra and Clinical Hypnosis and Goa pose a particular Research. A former resi- challenge to investiga- dent of Goa, Dr tion and intelligence Athavale is now a resi- agencies. According to dent of New Bombay. a report in The Indian His students are quick Express (June 22): to exonerate his role “The five men were in present activities, members of the however. Sanatan Sanstha (SS) “HJS and SS leaders and the Hindu are also cagey talking Janajagruti Samiti about Dharmashakti (HJS), hitherto little- Sena chief Vinay known groups operat- Panvalkar, thought to ing in the hinterland of live in the Dadar area of Maharashtra and Goa. Thackeray: Hindu suicide squads needed Central Mumbai and who Two of them are also has travelled extensively A Hindu fidayeen band is necessary to combat Muslim members of another across Maharashtra after fundamentalism, Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, edited by party newly launched outfit boss , said on June 19. the outfit was called the Dharmashakti In a leader comment, the paper said a “Hindu bomb” was launched. At a Sena, pictures of whose needed to combat the “Muslim bomb”, in response to the arrest ‘dharmajagruti sabha’ (re- inaugural rally in April of those allegedly involved in the bomb blasts in Vashi and Thane. ligious awakening con- show young men “Think big”, advised the editorial, describing the low intensity ference) in Pune in mid- dressed in military fa- bombs as “phuskya” (timid”) and targeting of fellow Hindus by May 2008, Panvalkar is tigues. the extremists as “ridiculous and stupid”. quoted as saying: “Hin- “These groups, which “The need of the hour is to plant a strong bomb in Bangladeshi dus are cornered from work like wheels within bastis that have mushroomed in Thane and elsewhere in all sides but there is no wheels, have been qui- Maharashtra,” it added. retaliation from them.” etly mobilising Hindus Responding to the outrage over the Saamna editorial, At a later meeting in on a cocktail of Thackeray convened a press conference two days later to Thane he said, “The war Ramrajya (Rama’s rule), reiterate his appeal to militant Hindus to form suicide squads in future will be a Hindu and to counter Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. He said that he was dharmayudh (religious ‘dharmakranti’ (religious not worried about the legal implications of his appeal. war) and Dharmashakti revolution) in and BJP vice–president Gopinath Munde said no case could be Sena will be the guid- around Mumbai for a few made against Thackeray since the Sena chief had spoken against ing force.” years now. terrorism and not against any section of the population. What in- “While the SS and the Thackeray preached was nothing but pure patriotism, he added. vestigation shows that HJS are both registered the linkages to these in Goa as charitable organisations, the “‘Conversions of Hindus’, ‘geno- groups from Maharashtra and Goa go all Dharmashakti Sena was set up in 16 cide’, the Congress government’s al- the way to Australia and the United Maharashtra towns and cities on Gudi leged poor track record against Is- States with centres in New Jersey, Bris- Padwa day this April. Its stated aim: es- lamic terrorism, ‘persecution at the bane, Melbourne and Dubai. tablishing ‘Ramrajya’ and to make Hin- hands of anti-Hindus’, are recurrent The top leaders of these organi- dus ‘capable of action’. themes alongside a call for Hindus and sations are: Dr Jayant Balaji “Publications linked to the three Hindu organisations to unite. Unlike Athavale, founder of Hindu groups say the Dharmashakti Sena of- leaders of the RSS, VHP and Bajrang Janajagruti Samiti, Virendra fers free training in self-defence and the Dal, the men and women behind these Marathe, managing trustee of training involves inculcating ‘mental new outfits are low-profile activists Sanatan Sanstha, Vinay Panvalkar, courage’. It also reminds readers of the who have been quietly chipping away chief of Dharmashakti Sena, Dr ‘armed battle of revolutionaries and at the mind-set of Hindus in Durgesh Samant, national spokes- saints’, RSS guru Golwalkar’s work on Maharashtra and Goa. The founder of man of HJS, Abhay Vartak, Mumbai ‘protecting Hindus’ and his teaching the SS, the oldest of the three groups, spokesman of Sanatan Sanstha, that ‘weapons should be countered with is Dr Jayant Athavale, a clinical and Shivaji Vatkar, Mumbai con- weapons’. hypnotherapist who practised for two venor of HJS.

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 19 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST Bloodstains Major terrorist attacks in India over the past decade July 5, 2005: Six militants are killed during an attempt to storm the makeshift Ram temple in . Two civilians are also killed July 26, 2008: Seventeen low intensity bombs explode in sev- and three security men are injured in the attack. eral areas of , leaving 58 people dead and over 100 May 9, 2005: Three people are killed as terrorists open fire on others injured. people coming out of a mosque at Chakka village in the Bhaderwah July 25, 2008: A string of nine synchronised bomb blasts during the area of Doda district, Jammu and Kashmir. busy lunch hour in Bangalore leave two dead and injure 12 others. August 27, 2004: Bomb blasts at local mosques in the towns of May 13, 2008: Eight bomb blasts in the span of 12 minutes rock Purna and Jalna in Central Maharashtra injure 18 persons. Jaipur, leaving 67 dead and over 277 others injured. August 15, 2004: Three bomb explosions in the Dhemaji district of January 1, 2008: A pre-dawn terrorist attack on a Central Re- Assam kill 16 people, mainly schoolchildren, and injure 40 others. serve Police Force camp in Rampur, , kills eight, November 21, 2003: A bomb blast at the Mohammadiya Masjid in including seven security men, and injures five others. Parbhani in Central Maharashtra kills one person and injures 40 others. October 11, 2007: A bomb blast during the month of Ramadan at the August 25, 2003: Two powerful car bomb explosions at Jhaveri Ba- Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti dargah in Ajmer kills two and injures 17. zaar and at the Gateway of India in South Mumbai kill 60 persons and August 25, 2007: Twin bomb blasts, at an open-air auditorium and injure about 160 others. a popular eatery in Hyderabad, leave 42 dead and injure 50 others. July 28, 2003: A bomb explosion on a BEST bus at Ghatkopar in May 18, 2007: A bomb blast at the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad kills north-eastern Mumbai kills four people and injures 32 others. 11 people and injures 50 others. Five people are also killed in subse- quent police firing. March 13, 2003: A bomb blast shatters the bogie of a local train February 18, 2007: Two fire bombs explode on the Samjhauta at the Mulund railway station in Mumbai, killing 11 people and injur- Express bound for Pakistan, killing 68 passengers, most of them ing more than 65 others. Pakistanis, and injuring 50 others. December 2, 2002: Two persons are killed and 31 others injured in a September 8, 2006: Twin bomb blasts go off after Friday prayers bomb explosion in a bus outside the Ghatkopar railway station in Mumbai. near a mosque in Malegaon, Maharashtra, killing 40 people and September 24, 2002: Armed terrorists attack the Akhshardham injuring 125 others. temple in Gandhinagar, killing 39 people and injuring 74 others. July 11, 2006: Seven bomb explosions rip through crowded May 21, 2002: Abdul Gani Lone, senior leader of the separatist commuter trains and stations in Mumbai, killing 200 people and All Parties Hurriyat Conference, is shot dead by unidentified gun- leaving about 700 others injured. men in Srinagar. July 11, 2006: Five hand grenade attacks in Srinagar kill eight May 14, 2002: At least 30 people, including women and chil- people, including tourists and pilgrims, and injure 43 others. dren, are killed and over 60 injured in a militant suicide attack on June 1, 2006: Three militants are killed in an exchange of fire an army camp in the Kaluchak cantonment area in Jammu. with security personnel during an attempted attack on the RSS March 30, 2002: Seven people, including three security forces headquarters in Nagpur. men, are killed in a militant attack on the Raghunath temple in Jammu. May 25, 2006: A powerful bomb explosion kills four tourists in January 22, 2002: Militants attack the American Centre in Batpora, Srinagar. Kolkata, killing four police officers and injuring 21. May 21, 2006: Seven people, including two terrorists, are killed December 13, 2001: Armed terrorists attack the Indian Parlia- as militants attack a Congress party rally in Srinagar. ment in , killing 12 people, including six policemen, and May 1, 2006: Thirty-five Hindu villagers are killed in two sepa- injuring 26 others. All five terrorists are also killed. rate terrorist attacks in the districts of Doda and Udhampur in October 1, 2001: A car bomb explodes near the Jammu and Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir state assembly in Srinagar, killing 38 people and injuring April 14, 2006: Two explosions rip through the Jama Masjid in 40 others. The bombing was followed by an armed assault on the Delhi, injuring 14 people. assembly premises by three armed terrorists. March 7, 2006: Twin bombings at the Sankat Mochan temple and at the Cantonment railway station in Varanasi kill 23 people June 8, 2001: Unidentified terrorists lob a grenade into the and injure over 100 others. premises of the Charar-e-Sharif mosque near Srinagar. Four per- December 28, 2005: One person is killed and five others are sons are killed and 60 others are injured in the incident. injured when a heavily armed assailant opens fire and lobs gre- December 22, 2000: Militants attack the Red Fort in Delhi, kill- nades on the Indian Institute of Science campus in Bangalore. ing two army men and one civilian. October 29, 2005: Three bombs explode in busy New Delhi markets March 20, 2000: Militants massacre 35 Sikhs in the village of a day before Diwali, killing 65 people and injuring 210 others. Chattisinghpora in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. October 18, 2005: Jammu and Kashmir minister of state for December 24-31, 1999: An Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to education, Ghulam Nabi Lone, is shot dead by a militant while New Delhi is hijacked and flown to Afghanistan where 189 passengers CPI(M) state secretary, MY Tarigami, escapes unhurt during a simi- and crew are held hostage for eight days. They are ultimately freed in lar bid in Srinagar. Two security guards and a civilian are also return for the release of three militants held in Indian prisons. One killed in the incidents. hostage is killed. July 29, 2005: Twelve people are killed and 52 others injured in February 14, 1998: Forty-six persons are killed and more than 200 a bomb explosion on the Shramjivi Express in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh. injured as 13 bomb blasts rip through Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 20 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS Gujarat blasts: Case closed?

The so-called breakthrough in the Ahmedabad blasts case 2008. Fifty-six people were killed and raises more questions than it answers over 150 injured in the serial blasts that hit Gujarat’s major commercial nerve centre last month. A total of 19 blasts took place in 10 different areas of the city and apart from the minority-domi- nated Sarkhej and Juhapura all of them occurred in the labour-dominated east- ern parts of the old city. Most of these were crowded and congested areas bat- tling peak evening hour traffic: Sarkhej, Maninagar, Bapunagar, Thakkarbapanagar, Naroda, Raipur, Narol and Sarangpur. The Civil Hospital and LG Hospital campuses were the last to be hit, about 40 minutes after the first round of blasts, and 27 people were killed here. At a press conference held at the police commissioner’s office late that same evening the chief minister, said confidently that ammonium nitrate and gelatine sticks Ahmedabad, July 2008 had been used in the bombs. He also said that the Ahmedabad Crime Branch BY TEESTA SETALVAD solution to the case presented to us by would be handling the investigation. the Gujarat police. Intelligence sources said the needle of EPEATED terror attacks are Ironically, both men at the helm in suspicion pointed to the Students Is- invariably followed by near Gujarat, the state’s chief minister, lamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the instantaneous polarisation in Narendra Modi, and the director gen- Lashkar-i Tayyeba. our public sphere – in class- eral of police (DGP), PC Pande, stand A. Outfits named: In Ahmedabad, as rooms and mohallas, in buses seriously indicted for criminal con- elsewhere, the moment the bombs ex- andR train compartments and in our news- spiracy and mass murder of the state’s ploded both the political class and “in- rooms. A polarisation that echoes the 2,500 Muslims in 2002. A significant telligence sources” held SIMI and Hindu vs Muslim divide, carefully fo- section of the Gujarat police, especially Lashkar responsible for the attacks even mented by ideological processes that its crime branch, has been found guilty as they admitted their ignorance about threaten at heart the survival of India of unprofessional and criminal conduct how these outfits operate. as a society and as a nation. vis-à-vis the state’s minorities. Unfor- Rational discourse barely gets an tunately, such discriminatory policing B. Arrests of the alleged accused: By edge in as hate hysteria claims our psy- enjoys highest political sanction in August 16, 2008, when the Gujarat po- che. Peace, reason, dialogue all seem Gujarat. lice claimed they had ‘cracked’ the case, passé as intelligence experts bay for The swift solution presented to the 10 persons in all, nine of them Gujarat blood and press for a tighter security public by the Gujarat police on August residents, had been arrested. Mufti Abu regime. Overnight the police, intelli- 16, 2008 contains several loopholes that Bashar from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh gence and other investigating agen- require explanation. We also need to ques- was named as the mastermind. cies – which have been repeatedly tion the ethics of entrusting such a sen- Abdul Halim, an alleged activist of hauled over the coals for their failures, sitive investigation of bomb terror to a the banned SIMI who the police claimed rank complicity and unprofessional police force and an administration that was wanted in the conduct – emerge unscathed as our pro- stands severely tainted by the carnage (we are not told for what offence), was tectors in times of terror. of 2002. Or are such elementary ques- arrested in Ahmedabad (, The most recent example of this is in tions prohibited in today’s India? July 27, 2008). The police claimed that case of the Ahmedabad blasts on July To begin with however we take a look he had been in hiding since 2002.What 26 when miraculously, within 21 days at the investigations into the is the actual evidence of Halim’s involve- of the tragic event, we have a complete Ahmedabad bomb blasts of July 26, ment? Reports suggest that far from

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 21 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST absconding, Halim was an active com- for vehicles used in the blasts. But he CC: How did the Crime Branch con- munity leader in Dani Limda and police has not left home for the past five clude that the source of the cylinders claims that he had been absconding were months. They also said some meetings used was/is a Kalupur distributor? Do untrue. were held at our house but we are not cylinders have any identification marks Media reports quoting authorities aware of any such meeting,” she said or serial numbers? stated that Abdul Halim allegedly told (The Indian Express, August 18, 2008). D. How were detonators leaked from the Crime Branch that he was associ- C. Substances Used: On the very day manufacturers?: According to initial ated with Syed Abdul Karim ‘Tunda’, the the blasts occurred Narendra Modi as- media reports, the detonators used both top Lashkar-i Tayyeba operative wanted serted that ammonium nitrate and gela- in the blasts at Ahmedabad and in the in connection with several blasts in the tine sticks were used in the bombs, also unexploded bombs in Surat, according country between 1993 and 1998 (DNA, stating that the Ahmedabad Crime to markings recovered from the sites, August 1, 2008). Branch would be handling the case (DNA, were manufactured by AP Explosives (P) The Gujarat police must also explain July 27, 2008). An obvious part of the Ltd, a company based at Bommalramaram the prompt arrest of Sajid Mansuri, who investigation ought to have been prob- village and Mandal in the Nalgonda dis- we are told was the link between the ing the leakage of these volatile sub- trict of Andhra Pradesh, about 170 km planners and executors of the blasts. stances right from the production stage from Hyderabad. AP Explosives makes The police said he had been on the run up to retail sale to the end user (in this detonators and detonating fuses. (The for over seven months. How was Mansuri case the terrorists). Indian Express, July 30, 2008). Nothing suddenly located and conveniently ar- The chain begins with industrial pro- in the announced ‘breakthrough’ of the rested 20 days after the Ahmedabad ducers who are given special licences Gujarat police indicates how the deto- blasts? (DNA, August 17, 2008). to manufacture hazardous substances of nators had been accessed from AP by When was this information, which is this nature. Investigations could pos- the terrorists or what these linkages now being offered so readily by the au- sibly reveal clandestine sales by produc- mean in terms of the network of terror. thorities, actually collected? We are talk- ers. Next in line are the retailers, also Another report two days later said ing here of 15 and 12 year-old facts, so licensed, who are supposed to maintain that an explosives-manufacturing com- what were the authorities doing with a proper stock register precisely because pany in , in which the state this knowledge until now? Incidentally, Halim’s family has denied all the ‘facts’ obtained by the Crime Branch allegedly In Ahmedabad, as elsewhere, the moment the under torture. bombs exploded both the political class and On August 18, 2008 “intelligence sources” held SIMI and Lashkar reported on the arrests of an alleged ISI responsible for the attacks even as they admitted agent, Vishal Upadhaya of Jharkhand, responsible for the attacks even as they admitted an engineering student, in 2007 and their ignorance about how these outfits operate of a former jawan, Shailesh Jadhav of of the potential hazards of the materi- government has a major stake, may have Satara, who was arrested in Pune in als they deal in. Here too underhand been the source of the detonators in 2008 for his alleged links with the ISI. sales are possible. Investigators should the 27 bombs defused by police in Surat Has there been any follow-up of these have examined and tallied all the rel- arrests, any further investigations? (The Times of India, August 2, 2008). evant records to determine if any quan- The facts surrounding the arrest, by The detonators found in the unexploded tity of these substances was not legally the Crime Branch, of another alleged Surat bombs were said to have origi- accounted for at either stage. accused, Zahid Shaikh, are also under nated from the Dholpur-based Rajasthan Nothing in the Gujarat police ‘break- serious dispute. Ahmedabad city Detec- Explosives and Chemicals Ltd (RECL). through’ makes any mention of any in- tion of Crime Branch (DCB) officials claim A joint sector company in associa- vestigation into these leaks. that Zahid attended two terror training tion with RIICO, a Rajasthan government According to DCB officials, LPG cyl- camps in Kerala and Gujarat and the two undertaking, RECL makes more than 25 inders, each of a five-litre capacity, were lakh detonators every month. Integrated masterminds of the Ahmedabad blasts, used in the blasts at the LG and Civil circuit detonators, such as the ones Mufti Abu Bashar and Abdul Subban hospitals. The cylinders were found to Qureshi alias Tauqir, were constantly in have been manufactured at Meerut in used in Surat, are supplied to mines to touch with him. Zahid, a resident of UP while their distributors were traced trigger explosions mainly for stone quar- Gujarat, owned a mobile (repair) shop to Kalupur in Ahmedabad. The DCB rying and coal mining. Investigators say at the Alishan Complex in Dani Limda named at least two manufacturing the terror outfits may have procured and lived, along with several members agencies from Meerut, Mayur and these detonators from mining compa- of his family, not far from the Sarkhej Golden Click, who are said to have sent nies who engage a large number of con- highway. Zahid’s sister, Saleha, refuted the cylinders to Ahmedabad. The tractors, especially in stone quarrying the charges levelled against him. “They Kalupur distributor was reportedly de- which is big business in Rajasthan. (the DCB) say Zahid had gone to vari- tained for questioning (The Indian Ex- RECL had reportedly already given the ous places for training and had arranged press, August 4, 2008). Gujarat police a list of all those who

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 22 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS GUJARAT had bought detonators from them. The cident, 1,500 detonators from RECL were are the Rajasthan and Gujarat police superintendent of police, Dholpur, recovered from a man in the Hazaribagh quiet now on the supply of detonators Gaurav Srivastava said that batch num- district of Jharkhand in August 2005. from AP and Rajasthan? Are the 1,500 bers of product consignments would He was said to be a supplier of arms to detonators within each carton properly/ help identify the dealer from whom the Maoists in Jharkhand (The Times of In- serially numbered? If that is the case it detonators then went to the terror out- dia, August 2, 2008). should be very easy to trace the source fits. “As many as 1,500 detonators are Forensic investigators have con- of the leakage which would then lead usually packed in a single carton on cluded that the improvised explosive to the network involved in the terror which the batch number is properly writ- devices (IEDs) used in July’s serial attack and its modus operandi. ten. The manufacturing companies bombings in Gujarat were assembled by Did the investigations in the earlier maintain a record of the batch numbers the same bomb-makers responsible for blasts also reveal a common pattern? of cartons supplied to the dealers.” a string of earlier attacks in AP, UP and Were the detonators used in those ex- RECL’s senior manager (works), K. Rajasthan. Experts from the Gujarat po- plosions also manufactured in the Edward Kelly said there are more than lice and the National Bomb Data Centre Rajasthan and AP factories? 80 approved dealers who sell the deto- have determined that the IEDs deployed E. The vehicle trail: A ‘failed plan’ to nators to firms involved in mining ac- in Ahmedabad and Surat were identical explode over a dozen bombs in Surat tivity. “Detonators are transported in in their design to the devices used in put investigators on an interstate trail trucks and are sold through registered the May 2008 serial bombings in Jaipur; of vehicles suspected to have been used dealers. The records are properly docu- the November 2007 attacks on trial in the Ahmedabad explosions. The Disposable squad? Surat police seized two cars con- taining RDX and detonators packed in separate bags. The bombs were yet to be assembled. The seized vehicles, it was claimed, bore fake numbers from but their authentic registration had been traced to Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra. Both vehicles were CNG-run WagonR cars. A connection between Surat, Ahmedabad and Navi Mumbai was found. It was a CNG-run WagonR that was reduced to mangled steel outside the Civil Hospital. The car seized by the Surat police, which contained a can of RDX, was also a CNG-run WagonR. The car has enough boot space to carry gas cylinders similar to those found at the Civil Hospital (The Telegraph, July 28, 2008). mented. The ultimate delivery is the pre- court buildings in Lucknow, Varanasi The Maharashtra ATS says that it has rogative of the dealers and we have no and Faizabad; the August 2007 bomb- detained car thieves from Navi Mumbai control over it,” said Kelly. He also said ings at the Gokul Chat Bhandar in and Thane but is cagey on all other de- however that his company does take Hyderabad; and the March 2006 attack tails (The Times of India, August 18, measures to prevent the detonators on the Sankat Mochan temple in 2008). reaching the wrong hands. Most of the Varanasi (The Hindu, August 7, 2008). CC: Since vehicles have been seized, company’s dealers are in Andhra Pradesh. Twenty days later we are told at the why has the vehicle trail been dropped? RECL detonators are supplied to states press conference announcing the (The culprits of the 1993 Bombay blasts like Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam and “breakthrough” that the “material for the were traced through vehicle numbers and Rajasthan. explosions was brought from Madhya registrations.) Why are the Gujarat and This is not the first time that terror- Pradesh and assembled in Ahmedabad Maharashtra police suddenly silent on ists have used RECL detonators. Police and Vadodara”. this? The Surat vehicles bear Vadodara found that they had been used in some CC: Have the AP and Rajasthan leads number plates yet their registration has of the serial blasts that rocked fallen by the wayside? been traced to Maharashtra; both the ATS Coimbatore in 1998 when about 46 peo- Were any follow-up investigations Maharashtra and the Gujarat police are ple were killed and more than 200 in- carried out to probe the Rajasthan con- reluctant to release any details about the jured in 13 explosions. In another in- nection? Why were they dropped? Why vehicles’ registration.

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 23 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST

F. Missing CCTV records: On August 1, the Talasari toll naka? Who monitors the groups, their activities and their terror 2008 newspaper reports revealed that functioning of toll nakas? Serious ques- attacks? vital CCTV data which could have pro- tions need to be asked of whichever What are the antecedents of Kenneth vided useful clues to the identity of agency controls the entire toll collec- Haywood? Who within the central IB and those involved in the Ahmedabad ter- tion operation, state or private. the MHA were responsible for letting ror attacks was missing or tampered with. Haywood leave the country? G. Terror threat email: In a 14-page The ATS’s great hope of putting a face manifesto emailed to the media min- H. Other email threats: An account- to the Ahmedabad blasts had been utes before the serial bombings, an or- ant, Deepak Shivshankar Pandey, was dashed said the reports. The hard disk ganisation calling itself the “Indian arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch offi- of CCTV footage that it had seized from Mujahideen” claimed responsibility for cials on July 31, 2008 for allegedly send- the Talasari toll naka (check post) was the Ahmedabad attacks. Titled “The Rise ing an email to a news channel in which ‘corrupted’ and did not contain any of Jihad”, the manifesto said the bomb- he threatened more blasts. Though footage of the suspected terrorists ings were carried out to avenge the Pandey hailed from Mumbai, he was ar- crossing the naka in the cars stolen from 2002 anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat. rested in Ludhiana. The police said the Navi Mumbai. “In the light of the injustice and email was traced back to the Punjab city The ATS had seized the hard disk wrongs on the Muslims of Gujarat,” it from where he was then arrested (The after it received specific information said, “we advance our jihad and call all Asian Age, August 1, 2008). According that the suspected terrorists had sto- our brethren under it to unite and an- to Pudhari, a prominent Marathi daily len four cars from Navi Mumbai and swer these irresolute kafireen (infidels) published from Pune, Pandey is a com- crossed the Talasari toll naka while of India” (The Hindu, July 27, 2008). mitted activist and member of the RSS. fleeing to Gujarat where explosives The email from the Indian Mujahideen, Pudhari also reported on August 4 that were then planted in these cars. Since which reached the media five minutes Pandey had earlier been arrested for the Talasari toll naka has an elaborate before the first bomb went off in sending emails to the Maharashtra chief network of CCTV cameras which not only record the registration number of the vehicles crossing the naka but Was the Indian Mujahideen an organisation known to even take pictures of the driver, the the Intelligence Bureau before the recent spate of ATS had hoped it could finally put a bombings? Was this organisation linked to any known face to the men behind the terror at- tacks. The Thane police told the me- terrorist/extremist groups, their activities and their dia that a few weeks earlier they had terror attacks? What are the antecedents of Kenneth been informed by toll naka officials Haywood? Who within the central IB and the MHA were that the CCTV apparatus was malfunc- responsible for letting Haywood leave the country? tioning. As the entire apparatus was responsible for letting Haywood leave the country? installed and maintained by a private Ahmedabad, was sent from the Yahoo minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, and deputy firm it took some time for the police mail account of “alarabi-gujarat” chief minister, RR Patil, threatening to to fix the problem. Police say it is through an internet connection used blow up religious places. possible that the cars crossed the naka in the name of Camp Kell White. The CC: Is there a link between this ar- during this time Internet Protocol (IP) address was rest and the other terror emails? (Mumbai Mirror and The Times of In- traced to a Kenneth Haywood, living dia, Pune). in Navi Mumbai. I. Farce of the Surat bombs: All the CC: From reports appearing in sec- As we go to press, Haywood has been confidence exuded by DGP Pande as he tions of the media it appears that CCTV allowed to flee India despite a ‘lookout talked of how police had solved the data at the Talasari toll collection cen- notice’ against him, which means that Ahmedabad serial blasts and the arrest tre were either missing for those crucial his name is intimated to all airports and of 10 SIMI activists as prime suspects dates or tampered with. It is now up to border checkpoints. Immigration at air- fizzled out when media persons quizzed the investigating agencies to verify ports falls under the jurisdiction of cen- him about the Surat bombs and why they whether there was in fact some defect tral intelligence while airports fall under never went off (DNA, August 16, 2008). in the CCTV or the data was intention- the purview of the ministry of home af- Pande was unable to answer whether the ally tampered with. None of this infor- fairs (MHA). bombs were planned before or after the mation was made public at the ‘break- CC: Was the Indian Mujahideen an Ahmedabad blasts. through’ press conference. organisation known to the Intelligence In another strange twist to the case If the CCTVs were malfunctioning, Bureau (IB) before the recent spate of of mysterious live bombs found and and this had been reported to the au- bombings? (At his August 16 press con- defused in Surat over several days the thorities, how often has such malfunc- ference DGP Pande said that SIMI mi- local police revealed that the Surat tioning been reported before this? Who nus the S and I equalled IM – Indian bombs were actually planted hours be- was the person on duty for the relevant Mujahideen.) Was this organisation fore the Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts dates, operating the CCTV or manning linked to any known terrorist/extremist took place. Surat police commissioner

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 24 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS GUJARAT

(CP) RMS Brar categorically confirmed On July 30, a live bomb was found months ago the Crime Branch report- that a citizen who had spotted the hidden near a signboard at Mahidharpura edly discovered that Mohammed was bombs and informed the police said Hira Bazaar. making phone calls from the jail to Pa- that he first spotted the bomb at 11 On August 3, a live bomb was re- kistan and Dubai where many abscond- a.m. on Saturday, July 26. (The Asian covered from a billboard at a bus stop ing criminals from India are suspected Age, August 1, 2008). The first bomb in the Athwalines area (The Times of to have fled. (The Telegraph, August 1, blast in Ahmedabad took place at India, August 19, 2008). 2008). around 6.45 p.m. i.e. nearly eight CC: How can the Surat police confi- CC: How is it that information about hours later. dently assert – five days after the phone calls to Pakistan from a jail in The Surat CP concluded from this Ahmedabad blasts – that they have sub- Gujarat, a clandestine and illegal act, that the Surat bombs were planted be- sequently defused bombs in Surat that was not made public before the fore the Ahmedabad serial blasts and were actually meant for explosion be- Ahmedabad blasts? that if they had actually exploded they fore the Ahmedabad blasts? K. Failure of intelligence: The Gujarat would have caused much more havoc VM Parghi, an officer of the Gujarat police have been severely criticised for than all the Ahmedabad bombs put to- police who was seriously indicted by the inefficiency or worse in intelligence- gether. He also said that fortunately courts for perjury in the Best Bakery case gathering (The Times of India, July 27, none of the Surat bombs had timers (see CC, March 2006), is the man from 2008). and the live bombs had all been de- the Gujarat (Surat) police who has been Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) suspects that the conspiracy to carry out the bomb blasts in Ahmedabad was hatched by SIMI dur- ing a meeting in Gujarat in January. Around 15 SIMI men, including its chief, Safdar Nagori, his deputy, Shibli Abdul, and Sajid Mansoori and Asif Kagzi, two high-ranking activists from Gujarat, are said to have attended the two-day training camp in a forest area near Halol, around 50 km from Baroda, on January 13-14, the ATS said (DNA, August 4, 2008). According to the Gujarat police, Safdar Nagori, the SIMI Madhya Pradesh unit chief who was arrested along with 12 others on March 27, 2008 from Indore (and has been in a Madhya Pradesh jail since then), had trained SIMI activists in the Ahmedabad, July 2008 Halol jungle. Now we are told that another training camp also took place fused by the local bomb disposal squad investigating the Surat bombs. Can this 30 km from Indore while yet another before they exploded. investigation have credibility? one was held in Kerala. On July 29, a bomb was recovered The fact that the Surat bombs were de- The Gujarat police’s breakthrough fused in such a cavalier manner also from a treetop at Mini Hira Bazaar in mentions the Halol training camp. It also prompted a section of the media to raise Varachha. emerges that the ATS Maharashtra had questions about the nature of these bombs. On July 29, a bomb was recovered detained Nagori for almost a month be- from a flyover at Hira Baug Circle in J. Alleged phone calls to Pakistan: fore the Ahmedabad blasts and then sent Varachha and later defused. Police sources said that a life convict him back to the Rewa jail where he is On July 29, a live bomb was re- in a Sabarmati jail, said to be close to still in custody (The Times of India, Au- covered from a treetop near Mohan Pakistan-based fugitive Rasool Parti, gust 17, and DNA, August 18, 2008). Chawl in Varachha whereas another bomb would be interrogated in connection CC: If the ATS had gained such in- was recovered from an advertising ban- with the blasts. They said grilling Gulam criminating evidence of a training camp ner stuck on the Flyover Bridge. Mohammed, jailed under the Prevention attended by Nagori and others, includ- On July 30, a live bomb was of Terrorism Act (POTA) in connection ing Mansuri, why were these leads not recovered from where it was hanging with the murder of Congress leader Rauf followed through? Why did they not atop a tree near the Surat Municipal Valiullah (1991), could help them trace inform the Gujarat police of the train- Corporation swimming pool in the link to Pakistan where they believe ing camp when they learnt of it? If they Kapdoara. the blast conspiracy was hatched. Five did, how is it that the Gujarat police

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 25 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS BLAST AFTER BLAST were clueless about the terror training hardest to project what the then dis- police commissioner of Ahmedabad to camp held in the Halol forest in Janu- trict collector, Jayanti Ravi, had termed K. Chakravarti, the then DGP, Gujarat, ary 2008? Is it at all credible that SIMI, an ‘accident’ as an ‘ISI-led conspiracy’. complaining about the role of sangh a banned organisation, could hold such Prompted by members of his sangh parivar leaders, including a BJP minis- arms training camps in Modi’s Gujarat? parivar and aided by submissive offic- ter, Bharat Barot, in the continuing Besides, how did information about this ers like PC Pande, the chief minister al- communal violence in the city. While camp, which took place on January 13- lowed the burnt corpses to be carried he spoke the truth to the DGP in these 14, 2008, six months ago, miraculously in open cavalcades into Ahmedabad city confidential letters in April 2002, surface through the Mumbai ATS only thus stoking hatred against the Muslim Pande has continued to delude the after the Ahmedabad blasts? What were minority which had already been de- Supreme Court even in his counter-af- the ATS Maharashtra and the Ahmedabad clared guilty in this diabolical plan for fidavit filed on July 31, 2008. Crime Branch doing with this informa- the burnings. Do we still remember that a big tion all this time? What evidence do they An obliging police commissioner de- question mark hangs over the Gujarat have to definitively say that this meet- layed the imposition of curfew in police for the involvement of some of ing actually took place in January 2008? Ahmedabad until the afternoon of Feb- its senior officers in politically-driven What were the Madhya Pradesh, ruary 28, 2002 even though 26 violent encounter (extrajudicial) killings? Two Gujarat, Kerala and Maharashtra authori- incidents had already been registered senior officers of the Gujarat police, ties doing with this collective knowl- the previous day. In the six-and-a-half Modi’s blue-eyed boy, DG Vanzara, and edge of training camps until now? years since the genocide of Gujarat Narendra Amin are still in custody for Why did the Gujarat police not go in for early arrests or impose surveillance Faced as we are with a cynical system that delays on suspects if they did know that the judicial trial of gross human rights abuses, a perpetrators were in the state? Did the states of Madhya Pradesh, media that reports honestly on the blood on the Maharashtra and Rajasthan lack coordi- streets but wears blinkers on the ideological and nation and fail to share crucial details systemic rot in the system, we are today expected of the interrogation? Was it plain complacency or worse to put aside the unsavoury track record of the on their part? Gujarat government, bureaucracy and police and The breakthrough claim of the accept, unquestioningly, their claim that they have Gujarat police raises more questions solved the Ahmedabad blasts case in 21 days than it answers. solved the Ahmedabad blasts case in 21 days 2002 the state administration and po- these crimes. The Ahmedabad Crime Criminal antecedents of the Gujarat lice continue in their efforts at subver- Branch is notorious for the illegal de- police and administration sion of the criminal justice system. This tention of prominent Muslims, espe- The same individuals who occupy top includes instances of perjury on oath cially those who offered relief and shel- positions in the state executive and before the Supreme Court of India. Given ter to the victims in 2002, detentions administration have now presented us such antecedents, how can one be sure that were carried out by officers like with an open-and-shut case. Of the 10 that the same government machinery has Tarun Barot and Vanzara. persons arrested for planning and plant- functioned professionally and with in- Significantly, Tarun Barot, a police ing the bombs, nine hail from Gujarat. Apart from Modi and Pande, 66 others tegrity during investigations into the officer indicted by the Concerned Citi- (ministers, civil servants and policemen) recent bomb blasts? zens Tribunal – Gujarat 2002 for his face serious charges of being part of a Pande’s appointment to the highest close links to international president mass criminal conspiracy – deliberate police post in the state has been chal- of the VHP, Praveen Togadia, is part of dereliction of duty to protect the lives lenged in the apex court. Citizens for the crime bureau that probed the re- of innocent members of the minority Justice and Peace – an organisation of cent blasts. community. Despite glaring evidence of which this writer happens to be secre- Yet faced as we are with a cynical the conspiracy, the Gujarat police have tary – has questioned the decision of system that delays judicial trial of gross consistently refused to register a first the state government to appoint him human rights abuses, a media that re- information report (FIR) and the mat- as DGP when another case charging him ports honestly on the blood on the ter is pending before the Supreme Court. of gross dereliction of duty during the streets but wears blinkers on the ideo- The tragic burning alive of 59 per- genocide in 2002 is pending in the logical and systemic rot in the system, sons in the Sabarmati Express at Godhra Supreme Court. we are today expected to put aside the was itself manipulated to suit a sinister At the last hearing of this writ pe- unsavoury track record of the Gujarat game plan orchestrated by the state’s tition in early August CJP filed an affi- government, bureaucracy and police and chief minister, aided by central intelli- davit in the Supreme Court. Attached accept, unquestioningly, their claim gence and the country’s home minister to it were two letters, written on April that they have solved the Ahmedabad at the time, LK Advani. Both tried their 19 and 29, 2002 by Pande, the then blasts case in 21 days.

COMMUNALISM COMBAT 26 JULY– AUGUST 2008 15 YEARS