Swami Aseemanand, one of the main accused in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, was remanded in judicial custody till November 30 by the 14th metropolitan magistrate on Saturday. The CBI, which arrested the swami on Friday in Haridwar, sought his custody for interrogation. The court posted the matter to November 22 for hearing.
According to police sources, Swami Aseemanand is considered an ideologue of a conglomerate of Hindu militant outfits many of whose members have been found involved in terrorist attacks on places revered by the Muslims, especially in Malegaon, Maharashtra; Hyderabad; and Ajmer, Rajasthan.
The agency is tightlipped on the role of the swami in Mecca Masjid case. But sources said the other accused in the case such as Devender Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Sunil Joshi, Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangra have all worked with the swami at one point of time or the other. While Gupta and Sharma are lodged in Ajmer district prison, Joshi was killed by unidentified persons soon after his name appeared as a key player in the Malegaon bomb blasts. Dange and Kalsangra have remained untraced. The sources said to avoid speculation and embarrassment, CBI has decided to make a statement only after interrogating the swami thoroughly.
