Samjhauta blast case: 13 Pakistani witnesses summoned

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A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Panchkula on Friday summoned 13 Pakistani witnesses to the 2007 Samjhauta Express train bomb blast to appear before it from July 4 to 7. Rajan Malhotra, NIA’s counsel, said that the summons would be served through the External Affairs Ministry.

He added that it was unclear whether the witnesses have to appear in Panchkula or some other court near to the India-Pakistan border. Separately, two camerapersons Arpit Jaiswal (NDTV) and Ashwini Kaushal (ANI) recorded their statements before the NIA court about accused Kamal Chauhan’s statement to the media in February 2012 that he had carried out the blast. Chauhan’s video recorded statement was played before the NIA court on Friday.

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Of the 193 witnesses who have recorded their statements, 25 have turned hostile. Four of the eight accused have been arrested. Two of the main accused, Swami Aseemanand and Lokesh Sharma, were recently acquitted in Ajmer Dargah bombing.