Ajmer blast accused testifies against Cong leaders

Ajmer blast accused Bhavesh Patel affirmed before the trial court here on Thursday that the letter purportedly charging Congress leaders, including union Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, with forcing him to implicate RSS chief and other Sangh parivar activists, was written by him.

He also said the charges are true.Following the affirmation, the court asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file its reply to the allegations by October 3.
The court has also directed NIA and jail authorities to keep him in Jaipur jail  until then instead of sending him to Alwar.

Bhavesh Patel has reportedly accused senior UPA ministers and Congress leaders of pressuring him to frame Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat and his close aide Indresh Kumar in connection with the incident, which the Congress leaders rejected.

Advocate Bhupendra Singh Chouhan, counsel for the accused, said Bhavesh Patel approved and confirmed his claims made in the letter in court on Tuesday.”
He had sent a letter to the NIA special court through the Sawai Man Singh Hospital Superintendent, in a  sealed envelope while he was admitted there.

The letter was opened on  September 23 and the court asked Bhavesh to appear on Thursday to verify the letter.

In his letter, Patel also blamed several other UPA ministers, including Minister of State for Home R P N Singh, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal and Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, investigation officer of this case for Vishal Garg and inspector general of NIA Sanjeev Kumar Sinha, of trying to frame Bhagwat and others.

According to NIA charge sheet, Patel had allegedly provided logistic support to a saffron terror module for the attack and carried the bomb inside the Dargah.The NIA court in Ajmer framed murder charges against seven people, including key accused Aseemanand, in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case.

They have also been booked under the Explosives Act for causing an explosion at the Dargah to create terror, and under the Unlawful Activities Act for causing communal disharmony and waging war against the State.

The two FIRs were initially registered at Ajmer in 2007 and subsequently the investigation was transferred to NIA in 2011.

The court framed charges based on the NIA charge sheet. Three persons were killed and 20 injured in the blasts in October 2007.