Double standard of NIA exposed: Suspected Hindu extremist to walk free in Modasa blast case

Hyderabad: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed its closure report in the 2008 Modasa bombing case in which Hindu extremists role was suspected, citing lack of evidence and inability to trace the main culprit.

It seems investigation is changing its course into Hindu terror cases after the BJP led government came into power.

It was during Ramzan in 2008 when suspected terrorists blasted an explosive-laden motorcycle in a busy market, which claimed the life of 15-year-old Zainuddin Gori and left more than 10 injured.

Almost seven years have passed since the 2008 blast, but the trauma still haunts the victims.

The agency was looking for the two main accused Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangra, who were suspected to have orchestrated the Modasa, Malegaon and Samjhauta blasts.
Both of them have been on run since 2008 and the NIA has also announced a cash reward of Rs. 10 lakh on information about them.

The closure report comes at a time when, Rohini Salian, Special Public Prosecutor in the case related to the Malegaon 2008 blasts claims, “she has been under pressure from the NIA to go “soft” in the case”.

There was a striking similarity between the Modasa blast and the Malegaon bombing in Maharashtra, which took place a day before.

The explosive material was similar to the one used in Malegaon and the explosion took place in a Muslim colony named Sukka Bazaar, outside a mosque when special Ramzan prayers were being offered. In both cases, the explosives were concealed inside a motorcycle.

In its closure report, the NIA informed the court that attempts were made to retrieve the complete chassis number of the engine of the motorcycle whose last three digits were not readable at all, official sources said.