NIA to probe blasts in Roorkee, Bijnor; SIMI hand suspected

The NIA will probe the 2014 blast at a VHP rally in Roorkee and explosion at a house in Bijnor as members of the banned terror group SIMI are suspected to be involved in both the incidents.
Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said this in Lok Sabha today.
Replying a written question, he said the undertrial fugitives who escaped from Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh are suspected to be involved in various terrorist acts in different parts of the country.
However, their actual involvement or otherwise can only be determined after a thorough investigation into such incidents.

In this regard, the Home Ministry has requested the state governments concerned to send their reports on these incidents in accordance with section 6(2) of the National Investigation Agency Act-2008, along with their views for transfer of these cases to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Chaudhary said the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have recommended transfer of the case of IED explosion at Bijnor and IED explosion at Roorkee, respectively, to NIA.

"These cases have been handed over to NIA for further investigation," he said.
A 12-year-old boy was killed in the blast at the rally in Roorkee in Uttarakhand on December 6, 2014 while the December 14, 2014 explosion in Bijnor took place when Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) accused were mixing chemicals with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The role of five terrorists of the banned SIMI, who had escaped from the Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh in October 2013, is suspected in both the cases.
Two of these terrorists were killed in a recent encounter in Telangana earlier this month while three others are still on the run.