Sadhvi, 3 more cleared by National Investigation Agency in Ajmer blast

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency on Monday cleared four people, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar, of charges in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast, and submitted a closure report in the special NIA court in Jaipur, saying it could not find enough evidence to build a case against the four.

“The NIA filed the closure report against Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Indresh Kumar, and two more men, Prince and Rajendra, in the Ajmer Dargah blast case. The court will decide on April 17 whether it will accept the report,” public prosecutor Ashwini Sharma said.

The special NIA court of Dinesh Kumar Gupta also expressed its displeasure over the pace of investigation after the agency failed to arrest three absconders — in the case, Sandeep Dange, Suresh Nair and Chandra Kalsangra. The court has asked the NIA director general to submit a progress report on the efforts made to trace the three.

The blast took place on October 11, 2007, at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer in which three persons were killed and 17 others injured. The case was initially investigated by the Rajasthan ATS and was subsequently transferred to the NIA which lodged a fresh FIR in April 2011 against the accused persons, including Indresh Kumar and Sadhvi Pragya, on charges of conspiracy, spreading communal violence, planting explosives and murder.

Apart from the three suspects who are still on the run, Sunil Joshi, Bhavesh Patel and Devendra Gupta have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the NIA court in the case.

While Sunil Joshi has passed away, the other two were held responsible for planning and planting the explosive at the shrine.

Earlier last month the designated NIA court in Jaipur had acquitted Swami Aseemanand in the same case. Apart from Aseemanand, the court had also acquitted six others in the Ajmer blast case. They are Lokesh Sharma, Harshad Solanki, Chandrashekar, Bharat Bhai, Mukesh Vasani and Mehul Kumar.