Pak national says he saw Samjhauta blast accused

At a time when the court trial in the Samjhauta Express blast case was nearly concluded, a Pakistan national who lost his limbs in the blast on Monday claimed he had seen the accused and the suspected person on the ill-fated day when the tragedy took place.

The Pakistani man says he can even identify the suspected person. His testimony could be crucial to the case, even as the veracity of his claim is yet to be testified by the competent authorities. As many as 68 persons, mostly Pakistan nationals, were killed in the blast that took place in February 2007 at the Diwana railway station in Panipat in Haryana.

The Pak national, Mohammad Anil Sami, a resident of Mujahidabaad in Karachi, Pakistan has written to his advocate Momin Malik to depose before the NIA court in the case as an eyewitness. The case is listed for today at the special NIA court in Panchkula near here.

The Pak national said his minor brother Mohammad Harish and father Mohammad Shafique Ahmed were killed in the blast, while his body and face were badly burnt. He said he lost both his both hands in the blast. Punjab and Haryana high court advocate Momin Malik has also petitioned before the High Court seeking directions to the lower court not to pronounce the verdict.