The Hindu : Front Page : ATS to probe Purohit ‘link’ to Samjhauta blast

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Friday, Nov 14, 2008
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ATS to probe Purohit ‘link’ to Samjhauta blast

LUCKNOW/MUMBAI: A Maharashtra ATS team on Thursday reached U.P. to question “high-profile” suspects in the Malegaon case, with the State police saying those under the scanner were “not an MP or MLA” even as the sleuths probed possible involvement of an arrested army officer in the 2007 Samjhauta train blasts.

“A two-member team from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad reached the State late last night [Wednesday] to question some in connection with the case. We are in touch with them and are extending all possible support,” U.P. Additional Director-General Law and Order Brijlal told PTI in Lucknow. He, however, did not disclose the names of the persons who were expected to be questioned and said they were “neither an MP nor an MLA.”

“The ATS team is not going to Gorakhpur,” the ADGP said when asked if it had any plans to talk to BJP MP Yogi Adityanath or MLA Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, whose name figured in media reports.

The two leaders have denied any involvement in the case. Adityanath said if the ATS had any proof it should directly contact him and that he would help it in the probe.

“If the move is politically motivated, I would retaliate firmly and strongly,” he told journalists in Gorakhpur as BJP chief Rajnath Singh spoke in his defence, saying linking the MP to the case was “not procedural but political.” “Without sufficient evidence, the government is targeting Hindu religious leaders and ashrams. We find these actions of the government suspicious,” Mr. Singh told journalists in Raipur.

New angles continue to emerge in the probe, with the ATS looking into the possibility of the involvement Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit, arrested in Malegaon blast case, in the twin blasts in the Samjhauta train linking India and Pakistan that left 68 dead. – PTI

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