Sunil Joshi murder case: Reluctant police moves, State government cautious

Sunil Joshi

The murder of RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi has once again come back to haunt Madhya Pradesh police and the Sangh Parivar as almost all the invetigation cases including Ajmer Dargah, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta Express blast in which Saffron groups are found involved lead the police to Joshi's murder.

Joshi, 45, who was considered a leading Hindutva idealogue in Malwa region, was shot dead in Dewas on December 29, 2007. The Madhya Pradesh police had stopped investigation when they found that leaders of BJP and Sangh Parivar may get exposed in the probe.

It was an inside job. There are various theories. The first linked to Congress leader Pyar Singh Ninama, who had cut Joshi's 'choti' (tuft of hair) publicly in Mhow. Joshi had left Mhow and shifted to Dewas where he lived with four RSS workers in a house.

Later Ninama was murdered. Later Ninama's son was also killed. Following the tribal leader's killing, Joshi was shot dead and three bullets pumped in his body. There was theory that he was bragging about his role in organising the terrorist attacks and this scared others who feared that he would expose them also.

Shrikant Purohit had allegedly said that it was Joshi who had been behind the Samjhauta Express bomb strike. But police closed the case and the investigation including the last calls made on his cell phone, his roommates and other evidences was buried.

Hindi Newspaper Dainik Bhaskar's report

Joshi's uncle Madan Mohan Modi and family members has openly said that it was his companions who had killed him. He said that the police were aware of the case but were not pursuing the matter for reasons known to them only.

But in 2010, when NIA and ATS teams of Rajasthan and other states again focused on Hindutva groups like Abhinav Bharat and Jai Vande Mataram after the arrest of Aseemanand, to solve the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Dargah blast cases, MP police were forced to reopen the investigation.

Newspaper reports suggest that it was during the Kumbh Mela at Ujjain that Swami Aseemanand had planned to bring the militant Hindutva groups together to avenge Islamic terrorism by targeting Muslim places of worship.

It is also believed that Joshi's closeness with Pragya Thakur, who is in jail for Malegoan blast, led to the killing. She had given her bike to Joshi and it was used in planting bomb in Muslim-dominated Malegaon. Now role of a BJP leader and other Sangh workers has also been found. The MP police are in a tough situation.

If it solves the case, persons linked to Sangh Parivar would be caught. If it doesn't, then central agencies and Rajasthan ATS can claim success. In this scenerio, the police have begun fresh investigations but are unsure how to move ahead.

Chief Minister's goof up: Do away with Rajya Sabha

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stunned audience with his statement during a function in Bhopal on Sunday.

Chouhan said that Rajya Sabha had lost its relevance and persons like Vijay Mallya get entry into the Rajya Sabha through wrongful means. He also said that British had instituted the Upper House of Parliament but it was no longer serving its purpose.

If at all there is need for prominent citizens, artists and intellectuals, then a quota of 25-30 persons should be reserved in the Lok Sabha itself. At the seminar on electoral reforms, Shivraj's utterances surprised the audience.

As a host of top BJP leaders have also failed to win Lok Sabha election and are in Rajya Sabha, the comments were clearly going to unruffle feathers in the central leadership of the party. Also, the statement was against the constitutional body.

Later in the night, Chouhan 'clarified' that he didn't mean that Rajya Sabha had lost its significance. He said that his statement reflected his concern for parliamentary democracy and decorum in the houses. Chouhan said that he respected the leaders of Rajya Sabha and regrets if any other inference was made from his statement.

Police quiz Ajmer blast accused in Bhopal Ijtima bombs case

The police are interrogating the links of Harshad Solanki, an accused in terrorist attack on Ajmer Sharif shrine, with the attempt to plant bombs at Bhopal's Islamic congregation.

For two years bombs were planted at Ijtima, the biggest Muslim congregation, in Bhopal. The bombs were diffused due to alertness of local youths in 2002.

The next year the bomb was found on way to Ijtima venue at Ghasipura near Eintkhedi in outskirts of Bhopal but due to technical flaw it failed to explode.

The police had earlier also got clues that former RSS activist Sunil Joshi and absconding terror accused Ramji Kalsangra were involved in planting the bombs.

Joshi was murdered before it is believed that he had begun bragging about his module's involvement in blasts in Ajmer and Mecca Masjid at Hyderabad. After Joshi's co-accused were arrested by Rajasthan ATS, MP police have also brought Harshad Solanki to Dewas to interrogate him. MP ATS is also interrogating accused in Ijtima case that remains unsolved.

Ijtima is the biggest congregation of Muslims in India and a million persons attend it every year. Sources said that there are orders to policemen to go slow in these cases as links of more right-wing militants may be disclosed. The People's Samachar newspaper published this news in December 2010.

Damoh woman dies in Varanasi blast

A woman from Madhya Pradesh who was injured in the blast at Varanasi has died, taking the death toll to the terror strike, to two.

Phoolvati, also known as Phoolmani, 60, belonged to Damoh district of the state. She was present at the 'ghat' when the bomb blast occurred. She was among the three persons belonging to the state who were injured in the blast.

A child had died earlier. Phoolvati's condition was serious and she succumbed to injuries in the hospital. She had gone to the City to see the ancient town. Her son studied in an educational institution in Varanasi, policemen said.

Nearly 40 persons were injured when the bomb planted by terrorists had gone off in Uttar Pradess' Varanasi earlier this week. Some other injured persons are undergoing treatment but none of them is in a critical state now.