Former Indian army officers detained for mosque blast -DAWN - Top Stories; October 26, 2008
Former Indian army officers detained for mosque blast
NEW DELHI, Oct 25: India’s federal police, the CBI, was investigating
two former army officers on Saturday for their alleged links with
rightwing Hindu extremists named in recent attacks, including a bomb
blast near a mosque in Malegaon in Maharashtra that killed five
worshippers during Ramazan.The unidentified army officers were picked
up from Pune a day after three other suspects, including a fire-
breathing woman ascetic or Sadhvi, were arrested for involvement in
the attack in communally sensitive Malegaon. The attack was initially
blamed on Muslim extremists.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Shamlal Sahu and Shivnarayan Singh thus
arrested earlier have been linked to extremist groups in Madhya
Pradesh, a state ruled by the rightwing BJP.
The ex-army officials are believed to have given training to people
involved in carrying out the blasts. Reports also said the ex-army men
had provided RDX explosives to the Hindu extremists, which was found
to have been used in Malegaon.
A motorcycle used in that blast on September 29 belonged to the
Sadhvi. Besides having links with the BJP’s student wing ABVP, she is
associated with the Indore-based radical Hindu Jagran Manch, accused
also of involvement in Modasa attack in Gujarat in which one person
was killed.
The arrest of the former army officers in extremist attacks may be a
new phenomenon, but many of the ex-officers have been active members
of rightwing groups, including the main opposition BJP.