The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has decided to put on hold its visit to Nepal to investigate the role of Shamsul Hoda, a businessman, in allegedly mobilising people in India and Nepal to plant an improvised explosive device (IED) on a railway track at Ghorasahan in Bihar earlier this year.
The bomb did not explode, but the Bihar police, who arrested three persons for allegedly planting it, said the ISI had planned the operation.
The Nepal police arrested Hoda in a double murder case on his return from Dubai on February 2.
As reported earlier, the Nepal police were not sure of many of the suspicions of Indian agencies about Hoda’s links to the recent train accidents at Kanpur and Andhra Pradesh.
Terror conspiracy
The NIA is investigating the three incidents to unearth any terror conspiracy. Earlier, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu wrote to Home Minister Rajnath Singh alleging sabotage in at least six train accidents.
“We are yet to complete the investigations in India and only when we wrap this up will we go to Nepal to grill Hoda. He is an important lead for us, but there are many unconnected dots to be joined here,” a senior NIA official said.
The Nepal police were dismissive of India’s allegation that Hoda was working on the ISI’s behalf, but they confirmed that the accused regularly met a Paksitani, Shafi Sheikh, in Dubai. He told the police that he went to Karachi seven months ago and met three other people.
Karachi link
“Hoda is not sure about the association of Shafi and three others with Pakistan’s ISI, but he says he was asked to do something spectacular in India. He says he stayed in a bungalow in Karachi for two days where he was treated well and asked to rope in his local contacts to create trouble in India,” a Nepal police official told The Hindu on Tuesday.
Three arrested
In January, the Bihar police arrested Moti Paswan, Uma Shanker Patel and Mukesh Yadav who allegedly planted the bomb, packed in a pressure cooker, on the railway track at Ghorasahan on October 1.
During his interrogation, Paswan is alleged to have told the police that the ISI was involved in the Kanpur train accident on November 20, and he and two others had travelled to the accident site to place the IED.
However, Director-General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, Javeed Ahmed had earlier told The Hindu that the statement of the accused could not be corroborated, and the preliminary investigations conducted by the State police did not find any trace of explosives on the tracks.
Hoda has emerged as a key catch for the NIA, which is investigating a “sabotage” or “terror” angle in the Kanpur train accident , in which more than 100 people were killed, and the Andhra Pradesh incident on January 21, in which 41 lost their lives.
Hoda moved to Dubai about three years ago when his real estate business failed. He suffered financial losses when he contested the elections on the Madhesi Party ticket, which he lost.
It is alleged that he made ₹50 lakh by pumping in fake currency into India. He then allegedly asked two persons, Deepak and Arun Ram, to plant explosives at Nakardehi in Bihar.
When they failed, he hired one Braj Kishore Giri to kill them. He had asked the deceased to send newspaper clippings of the explosion to him on WhatsApp, the Nepal police said.
The official said Braj Kishore Giri, Mojahir Ansari and Shambhu, alias Laddu, were arrested after an encounter with the Nepal police, where they disclosed the names of their Indian associates who were then arrested by the Bihar police.
Incidents where Railways suspect ‘outsider’ role
August 5 and August 20: Derailment of two goods trains in Koraput-Kirandul section of East Coast Railway due to removal of fish-plate/rails
October 1: Railway officials detect and defuse a cooker bomb placed on railway track near Ghorasahan railway station of Samastipur Division, East Central Railway
November 22: Bihar Police suspect conspiracy to train some persons to tamper with railway track to cause derailments and possible involvement in Kanpur train accident
January 1: Track patrolman notice deep cut on the rail line and removal of elastic rail clips and fish plates between Kalyanpur-Mandhana Station near Kanpur of North Eastern Railway
January 23: Track patrolman detect obstructions placed on track on a bridge between Barauni-Samastipur stations of East Central Railway
