Samjhauta blast case: NIA asked to file status report on Pak

A special court Tuesday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file a status report on 13 Pakistani witnesses in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case in which 68 people were killed.

NIA court special judge, Jagdeep Singh, directed the central investigating agency to file the report on October 5, the next date of hearing, said NIA counsel Rajan Malhotra.

"Besides, the cross-examination of NIA's chief investigating officer Vishal Garg was also conducted," the counsel said.

In the previous hearings in the case, none of the 13 Pakistan nationals appeared before the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court to depose as witnesses despite being summoned.

Sixty-eight people were charred to death in the blasts in two coaches of Samjhauta Express in Panipat on February 18, 2007.

NIA had filed a charge sheet against several people, including Swami Aseemanand.

It had on June 20, 2011 filed the charge sheet before the special court at Panchkula under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against five accused persons: Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Sunil Joshi (now dead), Lokesh Sharma, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalasangra alias Ramji.