Panchkula (Haryana), Jan 15: A local court today recorded the statement of right-wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat member Swami Aseemanand in connection with 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast case.
 Assemanand was produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Judge Rakesh Singh amid tight police security and his statement was recorded in-camera till 5:15 pm.
 The statement recorded under section 164 Cr.P.C. He has been kept by the court under wrap. National Investigation Agency (NIA) had moved an application on Januarty 13 before the court of CJM for recording the statement of Aseemanand alias Jatin Chatterjee.
 On January 13, Assemanand was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days by special judge Ritu Garg after NIA submitted that it is through with its interrogation.
 NIA had last month brought Aseemanand, also accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad, from Hyderabad and produced him in a court here on December 23 which first remanded him in one-day custody of NIA as the judge of the designated court was on leave that day. The Samjhauta blast in Haryana's Panipat district left 68 people dead in February 2007.
 Aseemanand was arrested by CBI on November 19 for his alleged involvement in Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad that left nine people dead. He was earlier living under a fake identity in Haridwar and had also procured fake identity cards.
 A post-graduate in Botany, Aseemanand is a resident of Hoogly in West Bengal and came to the tribal-dominated Dangs in south Gujarat in late 1990s.
 His name had also come up during the probe in Malegaon blast of 2008 when Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad recovered the number of the Swami's driver from Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, another Abhinav Bharat member and an accused arrested in Malegaon blast case.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 15 Jan 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 15 Jan 2011 18:30:00 GMT
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