| Ajmer Sharif Dargah blast | |
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Dargah of Moinuddin Chishti, the site of the attack. |
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Ajmer Sharif
Ajmer Sharif (Rajasthan)
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| Location | Ajmer, Rajasthan, India |
| Date | 11 October 2007 18:12 IST (UTC+5.30) |
| Target | Dargah of Moinuddin Chishti[1] |
| Attack type | Bomb in a Tiffin carrier[2] |
| Deaths | 3[3] |
| Injured | 17[2] |
| Suspected perpetrator(s) | Abhinav Bharat,[3] |
The Ajmer Dargah attack (also called the Ajmer Sharif blast) occurred on 11 October 2007, outside the Dargah (shrine) of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India, after the Iftar period had started. Investigations initially circled around the Islamist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, based in Pakistan,[2] and later focussed on the alleged involvement of Saffron Terror groups behind the blast.[4]
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At 6.12 pm on 11 October 2007, an explosion occurred near a courtyard outside of the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.[5] Evening prayers had just concluded before the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and a crowd had gathered outside the shrine to end their fast.[6] The bomb had been concealed in a Tiffin carrier, which workers typically used to store their lunch.[2] The blast killed three people and injured 17.[3][7] Remnants of a mobile phone were retrieved from the site.[5] Lalit Maheswari of the Ajmer police stated, "We have recovered some mobile instruments, so we think some sophisticated device was used ..."[6]
The blast was quickly blamed on Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.[2] The media initially characterised the attack as part of the conflict between ultra-conservative Islamic extremists against Islamic traditions popular in India.[5]
On 22 October 2010, five suspects, who had been arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of India, were charged with conspiracy in connection to the bombing.[1] Four of the five suspects were alleged to be connected to the Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.[8]
Government investigations concluded that outfits, such as Abhinav Bharat, may have actually been behind the blast.[4] leader Swami Aseemanand claimed that the perpetrators of the attack allegedly included two Muslim boys he had procured from the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan.[4] Aseemanand also accused Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the plan, which was allegedly conceived to avenge Islamic attacks on Hindu temples.[9] Aseemanand said that the attack was intended to deter followers from the shrine,[7] which is visited by Muslim pilgrims as well as Hindus and Sikhs as a symbol of intercommunal harmony.[6]
Other individuals accused in the attack is Bharat Bhai alias Bharat Rateshwar, a Hindutva extremist who is alleged to have finances the terrorist attacks at Ajmer and Mecca Masjid blasts. He has alleged to implicated BJP MP Adityanath Yogi for funding Hindu extremists and plan terrorist attacks in India.[10]
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