Rajasthan cops arrest witness in Mecca Masjid case

The Times of India

HYDERABAD: A prosecution witness in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar, 43, was arrested recently by the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (RATS) on charges of his role in the Ajmer Dargah bombing.

According to sources, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had picked up Rateshwar in connection with the Mecca Masjid case a few months ago and grilled him. In view of his knowledge of the vital portions of the case, the CBI offered to make him a prosecution witness to which he had agreed. Soon after, the CBI arrested the key terror plotter Swami Aseemanand from near Haridwar in the same case and brought him to the city.

Fearing that the Swami might spill the beans and name him in other bombing cases, Rateshwar took to his heels and disappeared from the police radar. His fears came true when the Swami spoke about his role in Ajmer Dargah bomb blast case to the RATS.

In the meantime, the RATS also gathered more evidence against Rateshwar on its own in the Dargah case and intensified the manhunt. He was finally arrested last week and produced in Ajmer district court.

Sources said that the CBI has cited Rateshwar as the PW 113 in the Calendar of Oral Evidence and also recorded his statement. The CBI chargesheet filed against the two accused __ Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma __ in the Mecca Masjid case said that Rateshwar has given a statement to the agency, which corroborates the facts of the chargesheet and would prove that on October 11, 2007 Sunil Joshi (another accused in the case who was murdered later) phoned and told him that the Ajmer blast was triggered by him with the knowledge of Indresh Kumar, a senior RSS leader.

The chargesheet further said that Rateshwar would also prove that Swami Aseemanand and Sunil Joshi were close to each other and that the Swami had provided shelter to Joshi after the Ajmer blast.

Sources said that the RATS could also make Rateshwar a witness as he has been involved with the gang that carried out bombings at various places in the country during last about six years.

Aarushi Talwar murder investigation closed

The investigation into the 2008 murder of a well-known dentist’s schoolgirl daughter has been closed by authorities in India for lack of evidence.

Schoolgirl Aarushi Talwar was found dead in her bedroom with her throat slit

Aarushi Talwar, 14, was found with her throat slit and a fatal head injury at home in a Delhi suburb. A man servant’s body was found on the roof a day later.

Police briefly detained her father, saying he murdered his daughter because she found out he was having an affair.

Aarushi’s parents told Indian media that they would not give up.

Dr Rajesh Talwar and his wife Nupur, also a dentist, have always maintained they are innocent.

“I’m completely devastated and shocked. I don’t know what to do,” Dr Talwar told Indian media. “I have not got justice for my daughter.”

Aarushi’s mother said: “We are broken parents today.”

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote The agency has filed a final report in the court for closure of the case on grounds of insufficient evidence”

End Quote Central Bureau of Investigation spokesman The gruesome tale of murder in the affluent Delhi suburb of Noida has generated huge interest in India.

Aarushi was murdered in her bedroom in May 2008, while her parents were in the house.

A day later the bludgeoned body of their man servant, Hemraj, was discovered on the roof.

As well as Aarushi’s father, three other men were arrested during the investigation and later freed for lack of evidence.

They were Dr Talwar’s assistant in his dental practice and two servants employed by the Talwar family’s friends and neighbours.

After a 30-month inquiry, India’s federal detective agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), went to a court on Wednesday in Ghaziabad, near Delhi, to close the case.

“The agency has filed a final report in the court for closure of the case on grounds of insufficient evidence,” a CBI spokesperson said.

The murder weapon has never been found, and while Aarushi’s mobile phone was recovered nearly 15 months after her death, its memory had been deleted.

The CBI took over the case from Noida police, who were accused of a botch job.

The police had gathered 26 fingerprints from the crime scene, but 24 of those were reportedly spoiled because of faulty investigative techniques.

They had also been unable to gather any evidence from a bloody hand print, a half-drunk bottle of alcohol and a shoe print found at the murder scene.

Noida police were further criticised for some statements they made during their investigation.

Days after the murder, a senior police officer told media that Aarushi had been killed because she had discovered her father’s alleged extramarital relationship with another dentist.

The same police chief also suggested the teenager could have been killed because Dr Talwar had objected to her close relationship with the murdered servant.

Dr Talwar rejected the allegations. Several women’s and children’s groups described the police claims as in bad taste.

India police raid minister’s homes in telecoms probe

NEW DELHI – Indian police on Wednesday raided two homes of a former telecoms minister who is alleged to have sold off mobile phone licences at knock-down prices in a scam that cost the government billions of dollars.

A spokesman for the Central Bureau of Investigation said A. Raja’s residences in the capital New Delhi and in his constituency in the southern state of Tamil Nadu were searched by police.

Raja, who resigned last month, is accused of changing bidding rules to favour selected companies who were often ineligible to compete for the lucrative second-generation (2G) mobile phone licences.

The licences were sold in 2008 at cut-price rates that denied the treasury up to 40 billion dollars in lost revenue, according to the national auditor.

The scandal, which could prove to be the biggest corruption case in India’s history, has engulfed the Congress-led ruling coalition and is seen as one of the government’s most serious setbacks since it came to power six years ago.

In a campaign for a cross-party investigation, the main opposition parties have stalled parliament for weeks.

The government has refused to agree, saying that the police and state anti-corruption bodies are both investigating the sales.

Raja belongs to a regional party that is key to the Congress alliance holding onto power, prompting accusations that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was slow to act against him after the 2G sell-off.

Raja’s lawyer, T.R. Andhyarujina, told the Supreme Court last week that his client had only been following procedures established by previous ministers.

CBI summons Gujarat Home Minister in Sohrabuddin encounter case

Ahmedabad: In a major development in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday issued summons to Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah asking to him to appear before it immediately.

Shah, a key aide of Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi has been asked to report at the CBI office in Gandhinagar by 1 pm today.

Three IPS officers from Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad and one from Rajasthan police are already in jail for their role in the case.

Reports claim that CBI has enough evidence to incriminate him of involvement in the alleged fake encounter of suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba operative Sohrabuddin Sheikh in November 2005 on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

In March 2007, police said that Sohrabuddin was planning to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to avenge the death of Muslims killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Shah is accused of constantly being in touch with the police officers who bumped off Sohrabuddun in the run up to the operation.

Media reports further claim that the CBI has a go ahead to book Shah and would arrest him shortly.

The CBI had earlier arrested Ahmedabad crime branch chief Abhay Chudasama, alleged to be also involved in the case.

The Supreme Court had asked the CBI to investigate the matter after the state CID failed to make much headway in the case. The CBI has to file a status report the apex court by July 31.

Before this, the CID, which was probing the case, had arrested IPS officers DG Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian of Gujarat and Dinesh MN of Rajasthan cadre in the same case.

The government also admitted that Sohrabuddin’s innocent wife Kausar Bi had been killed by the police and her body burnt in an attempt to remove traces of the crime.

In all, 14 policemen of Gujarat and Rajasthan are in jail in this case.