Another Mecca Masjid bomber held by NIA in MP

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested Tejram Parmar for allegedly planting one of the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad on May 18, 2007, reports Rajesh Ahuja.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested Tejram Parmar for allegedly planting one of the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad on May 18, 2007. The blast there had left nine persons dead and 58 others injured.

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"He was picked up from Deepalpur in Madhya Pradesh. He is being taken to Hyderabad and will be produced before the special NIA court there," said a senior NIA official.

Parmar is the third member of the right-wing extremists group to be caught — in the last 10 days investigators have arrested two other accused, Rajinder Pehelwan alias Samandar and Dhan Singh.

The group, led by former RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi, is believed to be behind blasts in mosques and places crowded by Muslims between 2006 and 2008.

Parmar is a close associate of Samandar and Dhan Singh. All three of them were once active members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Investigators suspect that Samandar and Parmar planted two IEDs during Friday prayers in Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad. Only one of the IED exploded.

Samandar is alleged to have planted IEDs in Samjhauta Express train (February, 2007) and Mecca Masjid.

He is also emerging as a prime suspect in the Malegaon blasts of September 2006 and in the murder of his mentor Sunil Joshi in December 2007, while Dhan Singh is alleged to have planted IED-fitted motor bike in Malegaon in September 2008.