The Hindu : Front Page : Serenity back at Ajmer dargah a day before Id celebrations

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 14, 2007
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Serenity back at Ajmer dargah a day before Id celebrations

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: The environs of the dargah of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer returned to its serene mode a day before the Id celebrations, scheduled for Sunday in this part of the country.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil visited the shrine, where a bomb blast had claimed two lives two days ago, for a personal assessment of the security situation. He offered a ‘chadar’ at the ‘mazar’ of the saint.

Mr. Patil, who visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital later to meet those injured in the blast, told journalists that investigations on the links of those behind the terrorist attack had extended up to the border. “The governments — both the Centre and the State — will provide all help,” he told the families of the injured.

The State police authorities clarified that the reason for not handing over Rs.5-lakh solatium announced by the State government to the family of Sayed Saleem — one of the deceased — was not his suspected link with terrorists. A. K. Jain, Additional Director-General of Police (Crime), said the amount was held back as no one from the family was available for receiving the money.

Saleem’s family hails from Hyderabad and he had been living in Ajmer for the past eight years. Some local newspapers had reported about his possible involvement in the blast, perhaps due to the Hyderabad connection and also the presence of some wires in his pocket at the time of the blast.

The dargah authorities were not seemingly comfortable with the presence of Border Security Force personnel inside the premises of the mausoleum. Naib Sardar of the Dargah Committee, Professor Ibrahim, on Saturday told journalists in Ajmer that the presence of the paramilitary forces was obstructing the normal functioning of the holy place. “The present atmosphere is not fully conducive for carrying out the ceremonies and rituals at the shrine.”

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