CBI hunts for Aseemanands point man in Uttar Pradesh

Having arrested Swami Aseemanand from Haridwar a few days ago,the CBI has launched a manhunt for his close aide Bharat Bhai Rateshwar.

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Having arrested Swami Aseemanand from Haridwar a few days ago,the CBI has launched a manhunt for his close aide Bharat Bhai Rateshwar,who is allegedly a key link between the godman in Gujarat and the perpetrators of the blasts at Malegaon,Ajmer and Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad.

CBI sources said the agency would seek help from UP Police in tracking down Aseemanands aides in UP who were in touch with Bharat Bhai before the arrest of another accused in the Malegaon blast case,Sudhakar Dwivedi alias Mahant Amritanand,from Kanpur in November 2008.

A CBI official involved in the Mecca Masjid blast probe said Bharat Bhais name has not yet been included as accused in any of the blast cases involving Aseemanand so far.

However,a senior official in Rajasthan ATS said Bharat Bhais name finds mention in the Ajmer blast case chargesheet (para no-5.45),which says that Sunil Joshi,who allegedly planted the bomb at Ajmer dargah,had called up Bharat Bhai soon after the explosion. Joshi had allegedly asked him to watch news channels and convey the message to Aseemanand,the official said.

The CBI official also claimed that Bharat Bhai would act as a messenger between extremist outfits like Abhinav Bharat and Jai Vandemataram across the country and Aseemanand. He said while members of these outfits have been identified in Maharashtra,Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan,Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh,the CBI would seek help from the UP Police in tracing others in the state.

A native of Valsad in Gujarat,Bharat Bhai is said to be the person who represented Aseemanand in secret meetings of Abhinav Bharat and Jai Vandemataram. He would attend these meetings and report details to Aseemanand at the latters ashram Sabridham in the Daangs district in Gujarat,the CBI official said.