NIA arrests Ajmer Sharif blast accused from Gujarat

A team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Mafat alias Mahesh Gohil from Vadodara late Wednesday night in connection with the 2007 Ajmer Sharif blast.

Gohil is also wanted in the 2002 Best Bakery case along with three of his relatives. All four are accused in the Ajmer Sharif blast case too.

This is the second arrest this week in the Ajmer Sharif blast case. The NIA had on Tuesday arrested Bhavesh Patel from the national capital and produced him before a court in Jaipur, which was sent to 15-day custody.

Both Gohil and Patel are likely to be interrogated about the conspiracy behind the bombing as well as the murder of RSS member Sunil Joshi, the sources said.While one of Gohil's relatives, Harshad Gohil, was arrested by the Rajasthan ATS in Jaipur in 2010 for his alleged role in the Ajmer Sharif blast case, his other two relatives, Jayantibhai Gohil and Ramesh Gohil, are still absconding.

Harshad had allegedly confessed to killing Joshi, who was considered to be the mastermind of the blasts in Ajmer Sharif and Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid. Joshi was shot dead on December 29, 2007, at Dewas in Rajasthan.

Mafat Gohil, 28, was visiting his family in Vadodara when the NIA team arrested him around 11 pm, his family members said. They said the team arrived at their house moments after Gohil came to meet his mother.

Gohil, also an accused in Vadodara's Best Bakery case in which 14 persons were killed during the post-Godhra riots in 2002, was declared absconding along with his three relatives when a Mumbai court framed charges against 17 of the accused in 2004.

The four, earlier arrested on charges of burning down Best Bakery situated at Hanuman Tekri in Vadodara, were acquitted by the Vadodara fast-track court in 2003.

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