The Hindu terror imprint in the October 2007 Ajmer dargah blast case became stronger with the arrest of the third suspect having links with Abhinav Bharat from Khardonkala village in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh. The accused, Vishnu Prasad Patidar, is stated to be a close aide of Chandrashekar arrested on Friday.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Rajasthan police, which has brought Vishnu Prasad to Ajmer for further investigation, suspects that he procured mobile phones and SIM cards used in the terror strike at the historic Sufi shrine during Ramzan.
The attack claimed three lives.
According to the ATS sources, Chandrashekhar and Devendra Gupta arrested earlier were directly involved in the planning and execution of the blast, while Vishnu Prasad was a member of the terror module affiliated to Abhinav Bharat which had the patronage of radical Hindu outfits in Madhya Pradesh.
Vishnu Prasad was earlier interrogated in October last year when the ATS came to know that he was using the same SIM card, bought with fake identity documents, which Chandrashekhar had allegedly used for triggering the blast at the dargah.
The ATS has identified the mastermind of the attack during the interrogation of Devendra and sent a team to Gujarat to track him down.
Devendra has reportedly provided fresh leads and revealed the name of a cleric living in the Modasa region of Gujarat.
ATS moves application for narco tests
The ATS has also moved an application before the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Ajmer seeking permission to conduct narco, brain mapping and lie detector tests on Devendra for getting crucial information from him. The application stated that though the accused knew important facts about the conspiracy, he was not cooperating in the probe.
The court will pass orders on the application in the next hearing scheduled for Monday.
