‘RDX was used in Samjhauta blasts’
In a startling revelation that has added a new twist to investigations into the Samjhauta train blast case, one of the main accused, Kamal Chauhan, who is also said to have planted one of the bombs, has disclosed to the investigators that RDX had been used in the twin explosions.
This is the first time that the National Investigation Agency, which is probing the incident, has got conclusive leads that the deadly explosive had been used in the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that triggered the blast.
Till date, the exact configuration of the explosive is not known, since detailed forensic examinations failed to decode the lethal mix of explosives used to configure the IEDs. Chauhan was picked up by the NIA team on February 12 from Indore. During sustained interrogation, Chauhan disclosed that he had heard the other accused in the case Sandeep Dange and Sunil Joshi that they have used RDX to cause maximum damage in the blasts. While Dange is still on the run, Joshi was murdered under mysterious circumstances.
Highly-placed NIA sources said that if what Chauhan is saying was right, then it is a huge cause for concern as one needs to ascertain where the RDX was sourced from. Further, official claim, if RDX has indeed been used then the so called “saffron terror module’’ must have used the lethal explosive in other blasts also like in Malegaon, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid.
Earlier, the Maharashtra ATS had claimed that former Army officer Col. Purohit had supplied the RDX to saffron terror module. But this claim was later retracted by former chief of the ATS Hemant Karkare. Thus it has now become imperative for the investigating agency to identify where the explosive came from.
“This disclosure by Chauhan needs to be viewed in a larger perspective since RDX is only used by ISI supported terror outfits. So if Purohit did not provide the RDX then where did it come from? Since if the supply chain is still active it can be used in future incidents also. So this needs to be checked immediately,’’ a top NA official said.
Meanwhile, in a related development that reveals a clear link between the Malegaon and the Samjhauta explosions the NIA has taken Lokesh Sharma, an accused already arrested in the train blast case, on remand till March 9.
NIA says Sharma is one of the masterminds of the Malegaon blasts as well.
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