The hearing on the Samjhauta Express blast case of 2007 in the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here was on Thursday has been postponed for March 18.
Advocate Mukesh Garg, one of the counsel for the accused Swami Aseemanand, told reporters “Hearing was scheduled for today, however, the district bar association of Panchkula had suspended work on some local issue. In wake of this, the court adjourned the matter and the fixed the next date of hearing on March 18.”
The trial in the case has concluded and the court was expected to deliver a verdict on March 11. However, Rahila Wakeel, a Pakistani national and daughter of one of the victims of the blast had on March 11, filed a petition through advocate Momin Malik, to get her statement recorded as witness in the 12-year-old case.
Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member Aseemanand is the prime accused in the case. The blasts on the Samjhauta Express, near Panipat, on February 18, 2007, and the subsequent fire in the coaches killed 68 passengers and injured a dozen. Those killed included Indian civilians and government officials, and a large number of Pakistani nationals.
The initial investigation was carried out by the Railway Police and the Haryana Police. Later, the Union Home Ministry handed over the probe to the NIA in July 2010.
