HYDERABAD: Rajasthan Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had stumbled upon initial leads in the Mecca Masjid blast case while probing the Ajmer dargah blast, which happened on October 11, 2007. The team recovered an unexploded bomb at Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti dargah in Ajmer, which showed that mobile phones and SIMs used in the Ajmer blast were similar to the ones used in the Mecca Masjid blast. The phones even had similar IMEI numbers and SIM card numbers were also in a sequence-.However, this evidence failed to nail the accused in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court.“An unexploded IED was found at the crime scene (Ajmer Dargah blast site), which upon examination was found to be similar to the one used in the Mecca Masjid blast. Also, the mobile phone and SIM card found from the site were similar to the ones used in the Mecca Masjid blast,” the first chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Mecca Masjid blast case said.The probe further revealed that some mobile phones were used in a suspicious manner. “ATS found that the four mobile phones were used with different SIMs in Sujalura district in Madhya Pradesh. ATS obtained permission from the competent authority to intercept the said mobile phones. Three of these mobile phones were seized in October 2009 from three different persons (names withheld). The fourth mobile phone could not be recovered as it was destroyed by the user,” the CBI chargesheet added.One of the four persons from whom the mobile phone was seized disclosed to ATS and CBI the name of RSS activist Sandeep Dange, who was accused no. 1 in the Mecca Masjid blast case, as the one who allegedly gave the four phones. Meanwhile, the investigating agencies found about the alleged role of other accused — Devendra Gupta , Ramji Kalsangra, Sunil Joshi, Lokesh Sharma — who allegedly belong to RSS. It was found that Sandeep Dange provided the seized mobile phones and 11SIM cards.Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma were first arrested by Rajasthan ATS. On June 17, 2010, they were subsequently arrested by CBI, which was declared as the first arrest in Mecca Masjid blast case.

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