The Hindu : National : 2 ex-Army officers being questioned in blast probe

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2 ex-Army officers being questioned in blast probe

They were said to be part of an RSS group of ex-servicemen

Mumbai/Bhopal: A team of the Anti-Terrorist Squad of the Mumbai police arrived in Bhopal on Saturday in connection with the probe into the Malegaon blasts amidst reports that the role of two former Army officers is being investigated.

A Sadhvi and a few others have been arrested in connection with the September 29 blasts, in which six people were killed.

However, there was no official confirmation about the detention and questioning in Pune of the two retired Army officers, one of them said to be of the rank of Major. They were said to be part of an RSS group of ex-servicemen and had allegedly imparted knowledge of explosives to those involved in the blasts.

The ATS team arrived on the heels of the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur (38), Shamlal Sahu (42) and Shivnarayan Gopalsingh Kalsangra (36), all hailing from Madhya Pradesh. They are suspected to have links with a Hindu right-wing group, Hindu Jagran Manch.

Sahu, who owned a mobile phone shop, and Kalsangra had started the Rashtriya Jagran Manch in Indore.

The Sadhvi was arrested from Surat in Gujarat and the other two were arrested from Indore.

The identities of the men being questioned in Pune were not revealed.

On Friday ATS officials confirmed that RDX was used in the blasts. But they refused to elaborate from where the arrested trio got it.

Defends Pragya

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janashakti Party president Uma Bharti said Sadhvi Pragya Thakur “had been a disciple of Maharaj Avdesh Anand and there was no way she could be part of any violent activity.” Talking to journalists in Sagar, Ms. Bharti alleged that the action against Pragya was taken as part of a conspiracy to defame the Hindutva forces.

In Bhopal, senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu claimed that the three arrested persons had nothing to do with the Sangh Parivar.

“Their association with the Sangh Parivar was being talked about only to give Hindu organisations a bad name,” Mr. Naidu said. “If there is proof against anyone, action should be taken but only after a thorough investigation is carried out into the cases.” — PTI

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