Almost two months after a bomb killed one and injured several in Modasa, with tell-tale similarities to the blast that went off the same day in Malegaon, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah has said the Modasa probe is going nowhere because the Mumbai ATS has thrown a spanner in the works.Shah said the police had failed to make any headway with the Modasa investigation because the Mumbai ATS came in the way. “We have made best efforts to approach the Mumbai ATS so that they could share the information with the Gujarat police but Mumbai police refused to do so. We even approached the court in Mumbai seeking permission to interrogate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and other suspects to find out their involvement in Modasa but the court turned down our pleas— again, because of opposition from the Mumbai ATS,” he told The Indian Express.He said the Gujarat police, however, had allowed every agency from the Centre and other states to interrogate Abu Basher involved in Ahmedabad blasts. “Even now, we are ready to work and share information with Mumbai ATS,” he added.Not that the Gujarat cops never really quizzed the Sadhvi. DSP K K Mysorewala, heading the Gujarat police probe of the Modasa blast, had told last fortnight that he did interrogate Pragya, but found her a hard nut to crack. “She refused to have played any role in Modasa blasts,” said Mysorewala.Inspector General of Police (Gandhinagar range) J K Bhatt, who questioned several Modasa residents, threw up his hands. “There is no progress in the case,” he said, adding even Mumbai ATS had not been able to provide any leads to unlock the Modasa blast mystery.
