The investigation by the Karnataka Police into the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh has revealed that the four missing members of Hindutva outfit Abhinav Bharat trained several suspects linked to the Sanatan Sanstha in making bombs at secret training camps across the country between 2011-2016. It was revealed in the documents submitted by the SIT to a Bengaluru court. They are all wanted for blasts in the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Dargah and Malegaon between 2006 and 2008.
Pragya Singh Thakur, the BJP’s Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate, is also an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case along with 13 others.
According to Indian Express, Karnataka SIT probing the Lankesh case submitted documents in court which disclosed that three men linked to Sanatan Sanstha, and arrested in the Lankesh murder case, and four witnesses, who attended the training camps, described the presence of a “Babaji” and four “Gurujis” at the camps where training was given in making bombs.
The “Babaji” identified as Suresh Nair, an Abhinav Bharat member accused in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast case was arrested in November 2018, 11 years after he went into hiding. His arrest has also revealed that the three other bomb experts at Sanstha-linked camps were Dange, Kalsangara and Ashwini Chauhan — all “proclaimed offenders” in the Samjhauta Express case and four other blast cases.
Those arrested in the Lankesh case have identified a fifth trainer who attended the camps as Prathap Hazra, who is linked to the Hindutva outfit Bhavani Sena of West Bengal.
The SIT probe unraveled links between missing suspects from bombings tied to Abhinav Bharat between 2006 and 2008, which killed 117 people, and the members of a group associated with the Lankesh murder.
Nair believed as “Babaji” after his arrest by the Gujarat ATS in Bharuch in November 2018 has identified the trainers as Dange, Kalsangara and Amit Hakla alias Ashwini Chauhan.
Dange, a former RSS worker has an Interpol red corner notice against him and is on the most wanted list of the NIA with Kalsangara and Hakla. He is considered a bomb expert. Dange and Kalsangara carry a Rs 10 lakh reward on their heads while Hakla carries a Rs 5 lakh reward on his head.