Chandigarh:
There was high drama at the Panchkula courts near Chandigarh today, where the Samjhauta Express case is being heard.
Rajendra Chaudhary alias Samandar Das, accused of planting the bomb on the Samjhauta Express in 2007, first confessed before the trial court that he carried out the attack as he was angry over terror attacks in the country. But as he was being taken out of court, he retracted his statement.
The alleged bomber had turned to the journalists present in the court and said "Yes. I did it." But the defence lawyer, Padam Kant Dwivedi, said that his client was under duress and gave a confessional statement.
Chaudhary too, as soon as he was brought out of court, said "I am being framed in the Samjhauta blast case."
The court has given Chaudhary's custody to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody till December 28.
He was arrested from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on Friday night. He had allegedly planted bombs in two coaches of the Samjhauta Express along with Kamal Chauhan, who is already under arrest. 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, had died in the blasts.
On February 18, 2007, two blasts had ripped through coaches of the Samjhauta Express near Panipat, when the train was heading from Delhi to Lahore.
The blast is alleged to have been carried out by Hindu right-wing extremists. The NIA, which probes terrorism cases, has chargesheeted six people, including Swami Aseemanand and Sadhvi Pragya Thakur.