Former suspect in Malegaon case points out Aseemanand

CHANDIGARH: A 30-year-old lawyer, among those initially arrested in Malegaon blast case, on Friday deposed before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Panchkula and identified Samjhauta Express blast case prime accused Swami Aseemanand.
Sheikh Abdul Khaleem, from Hyderabad, elaborated how Aseemanand confessed before him about the involvement in blasts and apologized before him as he (Abdul ) suffered in jail for one and a half years for the offence not committed by him.
According to documents accessed by TOI on Friday, in his statement to police, Abdul had informed that he was 23 when he was lodged in Chanchalagudda Central Jail of Hyderabad in connection with various cases, including the one of blasts case, in which his brother also was arrested.
In a statement recorded in the jail on June 7, 2011, he recalled the sequence of events which led to utterance by Aseemanand related to involvement of saffron terror into the blasts case of Malegaon and other places claiming lives of people largely from the minority community.
"As he said he wanted to apologize to me, I asked him to tender an apology before the kin of all those who were killed in the blasts triggered by him and his associates," Khaleem mentioned in his statement.
NIA prosecutor Rajan Malhotra said that Khaleem not only reiterated the statements made by him, he also identified Aseemanand in the court. "He said at that time Aseemanand had short beard. But Khaleem had identified Asseemanand and recalled as to how he used to read newspaper for him and had arranged water while respecting his age," said Malhotra.
A total of over 150 witnesses have deposed so far in the Samjhauta Express blasts case out of which 17 have turned hostile. Aseemanand and co-accused are currently lodged in jail.
The incident dates back to night of February 17, 2007, when 68 passengers, most of them Pakistani nationals, were killed in the twin blasts caused by low intensity RDX in the two bogeys of Samjhauta Express train near Deewana railway station of Panipat. The ill-fated train was on the way to Attari.