Fresh non-bailable warrants sought for Samjhauta suspects

PANCHKULA: A fresh application for issuing of non-bailable warrants against Samjhauta blasts cases suspects was filed before Panchkula court by National Investigation Agency ( NIA), which failed to arrest Sandeep Dange alias Parmanand, Ramchandra Kalsangra alias Ramji alias Vishnu Patel and Ashwini Chauhan alias Ashok alias Prince alias Amit.

Special NIA judge Ritu Garg on Monday accepted the plea of NIA officials and issued fresh non-bailable warrants against the three suspects.

This is the third time that the NIA court has issued non-bailable warrants. Earlier, on January 21 and February 7, court had issued the warrants. On both the occasions' the investigative agency failed to arrest the suspects.

A cash reward of Rs 10 lakh each had been announced by NIA for information leading to the arrest of Dange and Kalsangra. The NIA had also announced cash reward of Rs 2 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Ashwini Chauhan.

NIA special court had already allowed he agency to produce Aseemanand through video conferencing in Panchkula court from Ambala jail.

Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) had arrested 59-year-old Aseemanand on November 19 from Haridwar in connection with the blast at the historic Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad on May 18, 2007. Later NIA also linked Aseemanand with Samjhauta blasts, in which 68 people were killed when bombs were set off in two coaches of Samjhauta Express around midnight on February 18, 2007 at Diwana near Panipat.