Samjhauta train blast case: Special NIA court to pronounce verdict on March 20

A special court in Panchuka, hearing the 2007 Samjhauta train bombing case, will give its ruling on the plea filed by a Pakistani woman for examining eyewitnesses from her country on Wednesday (March 20). The hearing was postponed after the court the arguments on the application concluded.

During the hearing, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) objected to the application moved by Pakistan national Rahila Wakil on March 11 to allow her to appear as a witness. The agency told the court that Rahila Wakil was not among 13 verified witnesses who were summoned by the court.

In a last-minute application to the anti-terror court, Rahila Wakeel, the daughter of blast victim Muhammad Wakeel of Hafizabad district in Pakistan, sought examination of eyewitnesses from her country and contended that her co-nationals either did not receive proper summonses from the court or were denied visas by authorities to appear before it.

The NIA also told the court that the summons was issued to all 13 Pakistani witnesses through the Pakistan High Commission, Islamabad three times, but no responses were received.

"After the summons was issued for the first time, the Pakistan government had sought four months time. The summons was issued three times after a gap of four months but none of the witnesses appeared before the court. When the court was about to announce judgment, two people, who are not witnesses, moved applications," NIA Advocate RK Handa said.

Raheela Wakil filed the application through Wakil's counsel Momin Malik on March 11, the day the court was scheduled to pronounce its verdict in the case in which Swami Aseemanand is one of the accused, and requested the court to allow her as a witness.

"Rohilla Wakil was earlier asked to give blood samples and was also issued a visa. Her father died in the train blast. Why is her name missing from the witness list? We have requested the court to allow her to appear as a witness," Momin Malik, Wakil's counsel, said.

The blast in Samjhauta Express occurred near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari in Amritsar, the last railway station on the Indian side. The blast had ripped apart two coaches of the cross-border train, killing 68, mostly Pakistani nationals and four Indian Railway officials.

In July 2010, the probe was handed over to the NIA. After its probe, the NIA filed a charge sheet in the case in June 2011 against eight persons for their alleged roles in the terror attack.

Of the eight persons, Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan, and Rajinder Chaudhary appeared before the court and faced trial. Aseemanand is accused of providing logistic support to the persons who carried out the blasts.