Malegaon blast: Hindutva group leader grilled

Himani Sawarkar, the firebrand woman leader of Abhinav Bharat, a group that is under the scanner of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for its alleged role in Malegaon blasts, was quizzed today.

The sleuths of ATS interrogated Sawarkar, who is also the relative of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar and Gopal Godse, an accomplice in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Himani was quizzed for three hours.

Earlier, Lt Col S P Purohit, Sadhwi Pragya Singh Thakur, ex-army man Ramesh Upadhyay and Swami Dayanand Pande were arrested in connection with the blast.

They were all linked with the shadowy right-wing extremist group Abhinav Bharat. She was also trying to get legal aid and generate funds to fight their case.
Herald Bureau, Mumbai