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Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and People's Democratic Party leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has demanded that the Centre investigate the role of Lieutenant General (Retired) S K Sinha in the Malegaon blast as during the latter's tenure as the state's governor, religious leader Dayanand Pandey used to visit Kashmir regularly and was treated like a state guest.
"The role of Lt Gen S K Sinha should be probed to find out if he was involved in the Malegoan blast," Mufti claimed at a press conference in Srinagar.
Sources close to Lt Gen Sinha rejected Mufti's charges as outrageous.
'You can't plan an operation like Malegaon blast in a day'
Reacting sharply to Sayeed's allegations, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that it was just a publicity stunt by the PDP leader. "In spite of the fact that a number of old blasts cases have been solved, the Mumbai police and the Anti-Terrorist Squad keeps on probing these cases," he alleged.
'My daughter Pragya is innocent'
Pravin Togadia, general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, dismissed the allegations levelled by Sayeed against former J&K governor SK Sinha, at a press conference held in New Delhi on Monday. "It would be better if the people like Mufti Mohammad Sayeed stop preaching on such matters. I am the spokesman of the Hindus and shall continue to defend them, particularly if their human rights are violated," Togadia said.
Togadia also said the ATS was working at the behest of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "When the eight accused were produced in a Nasik court, the honourable court observed that there was a human rights violation and the accused must not be prevented from meeting their lawyers and that it was their fundamental right which was getting violated.
"Instead of saluting those who laid down their lives to defend the country the government is instituting judicial probe against them and provide legal aid to finance Jehadi. Earlier we were told that RDX was not used in the Samjhauta Express blasts and now Anti Terrorism Squad is saying that a part of 60 kg of RDX that was procured by Lieutenant Colonel Purohit was used in causing the blast. Other cases are also sought to be linked with Malegoan case.
Investigations by Mumbai ATS being politically motivated. It seeks to defame the Indian army by alleging that an army officer could get involved in such acts.
What Pakistan could not do has been done by the ATS. It is providing grounds to Pakistan to go to international court and seek damages," Togadia alleged.