Samjhauta Express blast: CFSL seeks to take evidences to Hyderabad lab for ``thorough’’ probe

The three-member team of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Hyderabad, which was here since Tuesday to compare the forensic evidence of the Samjhauta Express blast with that of Malegaon, Hyderabad and Ajmer, on Wednesday concluded that the comparison was not possible without taking the same to their key lab at Hyderabad.

According to information, the team which photographed and verified all the sealed exhibits - without opening the seal - suggested in their report that the comparison ``required thorough scientific analytical examination by various tests and sophisticated instrumental analysis which could be possible only when all the exhibits of the above mentioned cases are examined simultaneously at the CFSL, Hyderabad. The National Investigation Agency would thus be requesting NIA court here in a day or two to allow CFSL team to take the Samjhauta Express blast evidence to Hyderabad lab.

While the CFSL team comprised deputy directors K M Varshney, Dr Sukhminder Kaur and assistant director Deepak Middha, the two-day exercise which was vediographed also had defence counsels Ajay Kaushik and Nardev Sharma, NIA special counsel R K Handa, besides NIA DSP P K Chaudhry and ASI Baljit Singh.

The CFSL team which reached the NIA camp office at Police Lines, village Moginad, near Sector 25, here on Tuesday was allowed by the special designate NIA court last week to compare the forensic evidences collected in Samjhauta Express train blast case with that of bomb attacks in Malegaon, Hyderabad and Ajmer, in which the role of right-wing Hindu extremists was suspected. This process was conducted following a Punjab and Haryana High Court direction in the context.

It may be recalled that 68 train passengers were killed and 12 injured in the bomb blasts in the Samjhauta Express train near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007. The NIA suspected role of the five accused – said to be associated with the right-wing Hindu extremists - nabbed in connection with Samjhauta Express blasts, in the bomb attacks in Malegaon, Hyderabad and Ajmer as well. The NIA thus sought to compare the forensic evidences of all these explosions. Two of the said five accused, namely Swami Aseeemanand and Lokesh Sharma had so far been arrested by NIA, while two, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalasangra, were absconding and the NIA had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh each on them. The remaining accused Sunil Joshi was reported murdered.