The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday grilled RSS leader Indresh Kumar for nearly five hours in connection with the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in 2007.
A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's Central Working Committee for the past four years, Indresh Kumar was served notice by the agency to appear before it for questioning.
Accompanied by two dozen supporters who intermittently raised slogans, the RSS leader arrived at the CBI headquarters here at about 1.45 p.m. and termed the agency's move to question him as a “conspiracy'' by the Congress and denied any involvement in the case.
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Members of the “Muslim Rashtriya Manch'' also turned up to express their solidarity with the RSS leader. They stayed put outside CBI headquarters till late in the evening.
“I have been called here on a fabricated charge. I have been living a transparent life. I have devoted my entire life to the nation,'' he told journalists.
“For the past many years, the Congress party and some of its leaders are trying to harm both the RSS and my image. This has been exposed through WikiLeaks,'' he said.
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The Special Crimes division of the CBI probing the blast case sent a notice to Mr. Kumar under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.PC) which authorises the agency to seek a person's appearance before it, if he is supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case, CBI sources said.
The explosion inside the Mecca Masjid during Friday prayers on May 18, 2007 left nine persons dead and 70 injured.
The CBI on December 18 filed a charge sheet in the case in a court in Hyderabad against Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, who were also allegedly involved in the Ajmer blast the same year, accusing them of murder and other offences.
The duo allegedly have links with a right-wing Hindu outfit, the agency claimed. The prime accused in the case Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra alias Ramji, are still absconding while another accused Swami Asimanand, nabbed from Haridwar in Uttarakhand last month, is being interrogated by the CBI.
One more accused Sunil Joshi was killed by three gunmen in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh on December 29, 2007.
Both Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, who are presently in judicial remand in Hyderabad, have been charged under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 120-B (criminal conspiracy).
They have also been charged under sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substance Act 1908 and under Sections 13, 15, 16, 18, 19 and 23 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.