As the National Investigation Agency is set to take over the probe into all Hindutva terror cases, there is a growing evidence of links between the 2006 Nanded blast accused and those behind the Samjhauta, Malegaon, Makka Masjid and Ajmer Sharif terror incidents. According to the CBI report, Sunil Joshi, one of the main suspects in all Hindutva terror cases since 2003 who was murdered, knew those who died in the Nanded blast. On April 6, 2006, a bomb had gone off in the house of an RSS activist at Nanded in which two persons, Himanshu Panse and Naresh Rajkondowar, had died while three were injured. A scrutiny of Joshi’s diary (which went missing after his murder in December 2007) has reportedly revealed three mobile numbers believed to have belonged to main suspect Panse, under the names ‘Sardar’, ‘VK’ and ‘Srikant’. Officials suspect that Joshi facilitated training of the Nanded blast suspects.
At the time of his death, Panse was carrying a mobile with the number 09850202099, which was one of the numbers found in Joshi’s diary. Officials have determined that Panse, who ran a gym at Nanded, was known as Sardar. In fact, a motorcycle found parked at the Nanded blast site and registered in Panse’s name carried the word ‘Sardar’ on its number-plate.