National

Uma Bharti regime failed to act

NEW DELHI: Two Hindutva activists — Kalsangram and Sunil Joshi, alleged by the Madhya Pradesh police to have occupied key positions in the terror group Abhinav Bharat — were questioned in 2002 in regard to attempted bombings in Bhopal. The then-Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had publicly announced that he had evidence of the involvement of Hindu nationalist groups such as the Bajrang Dal in terrorism.

However, the government of Chief Minister Uma Bharti, who took power in December 2003, ordered the state police to hold back from making arrests.

The Maharashtra ATS is examining claims that Joshi, who was murdered at Dewas in December 2007, commanded three major terrorist attacks, including the firebombing of the Samjhauta Express.

Kalsangram, for his part, has eluded the police ever since news broke of the arrests of Abhinav Bharat members for their alleged role in the September 29, 2008 attack on a former SIMI office in Malegaon.

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