Samjhauta case hearing put off as lawyers go on strike

NEW DELHI: The hearing in the National Investigating Agency (NIA) court in the Samjhauta Express blast case could not take place on Thursday as the lawyers were on strike. The case was adjourned to Monday, NIA officials said.

The court on Monday sought replies from NIA and accused Naba Kumar Sarkar a l i a s Aseemanand after a last-minute intervention by a Pakistani national through her lawyer.

The NIA and Aseemanand were to file their replies to the intervention by Rahila Wakil, who hails from Dhingrawali village of Hafizabad district of Paki s t a n. She s a i d her f a t her Muhammad Wakeel was one of t he victi ms i n t he case and added that all Pakistan nationals, witnesses in the 2007 case, are “ready to appear” as witnesses.

The surprise application was mentioned as soon as the court assembled on Monday to deliver t he verdict. Media was not allowed inside the courtroom.

Wakil’s counsel, Momin Malik, submitted an e-mail that he received from her on Monday at 2.28 pm asking him to move the application to hear the 13 Pakistani nationals who were witnesses in this case.

“…in this case most of the eye wit nesses a r e Pak[ i s t ani ] nationals and want to appear before the court…but they have not received summons…visa was not granted to them…all the witnesses are ready to appear before this court…without their evidence this case cannot be decided on the merits…” her application read.

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDS) set off a fire in the Samjhauta Express on the night of February 18, 2007, killing 68 people on board, including Pakistan nationals, near Panipat in Haryana.

An i nvestigation by NIA established that two general bogies of the train caught fire after two explosions. Two unexploded suitcase bombs were also found in other compartments of the train.

I n i t s charge s heet, NIA named eight persons as accused in the case, including former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist Aseemanand who is out on bail.

Three of t he accused are absconding and three others are in judicial custody. Sunil Joshi, the alleged mastermind of the bombing, was killed in December 2007.

According to NIA investigators, statements of 224 witnesses were recorded; 51 witnesses turned hostile; nine witnesses died; and 13 Pakistan nationals did not record their statements. NIA officials said they sent summons to the Pakistani witnesses that were not responded to.