The Samjhauta Express carnage (Rajnish Katyal/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)In a shocking development, former General-Secretary of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Safdar Nagori revealed details of why Islamic terrorists targetted the Samjhauta Express in 2007, while under a narco analysis test. The video of his confession was broadcast by Times Now.
In the video, Nagori reveals that the Samjhauta Express blast was carried out in what he terms was a retaliation to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Gujarat riots of 2002 and the 1993 riots in Bombay (now Mumbai). He further says that he wanted to target Hindu individuals (referred to as culprits) in Mumbai, Gujarat, Meerut, and Hashimpora.
The Samjhauta Express is a bi-weekly train that runs between Delhi and Attari in India and Attari and Lahore in Pakistan. On 19 February 2007, a blast occurred at Diwana station near Panipat in Haryana, killing 68 people, mostly Pakistani civilians and security personnel while injuring 50 more.
Under the UPA government, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested Sadhvi Pragya and Colonel Shrikant Purohit in October 2008 accusing them of being involved in the Samjhauta blast as well as the Malegaon blasts that occurred in 2008. Sadhvi Pragya was released on bail in 2017 after the NIA was unable to find any evidence of her role in terrorist activities.
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