Claiming that the Malegoan blasts accused, Dayanand Pandey alias Mahant Amritanand, had also been a guest of the then Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen (retired) S K Sinha, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed urged the security agencies to thoroughly investigate the 'proximity' between the two.

"I am not aware of their proximity level, but it is up to the security agencies to investigate the issue," he said while interacting with mediapersons at his residential accommodation in Jammu on Sunday.

The Mufti expressed concern over the alleged involvement of seers and Army officers in Malegaon blasts. "Now even Army officers are found to be involved in the terror activities apart from Hindu extremists. It is a very serious and dangerous trend," he said. He said that it has become evident now that Lt Col Purohit had sourced blast material from J-K.

He said that despite their earlier reservations on participation in elections, given the present political situation in the state, his party has finally decided to take on the challenge, claiming that the "special status of the state is already on the dilution path and they don't want it to get further diluted".

"I had met the Election Commission officials and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and apprised them that the conditions in the state were not conducive for the elections at the moment, but the NC wants that the uncertainty should end," he said.

Reiterating that his stand on the Amarnath land row was right, Mufti Sayeed said he cancelled the allotment as he had foreseen the reaction it will generate in Kashmir. "The decision of re-allotment was taken by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and that led to the nearly two-month-long crisis in the state. He should have called me to know why I had cancelled the allotment," he said. He said that even now the land has not been transferred, it has only been allowed to be used by the pilgrims, which they were pushing for from the beginning.

... contd.