2007 Ajmer blasts: One more witness turns hostile

Ajmer, Rajasthan: One of the witnesses in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blasts case on Tuesday turned hostile in a Jaipur court.

Ram Charan Patel had testified to providing shelter to a key accused, Sunil Joshi and four others a year before the blast in Ajmer.

Two months after the blasts, Sunil Joshi was shot dead at Dewas in Madhya Pradesh.

“Today, Patel retracted from his earlier statements,” Ashwini Sharma, assistant public prosecutor, told reporters.

The earlier statements were recorded before a judicial magistrate to ensure that there is no pressure from the investigating agency.

But now, the witness turned hostile saying that he gave the earlier statement under pressure from National Investigation Agency (NIA), which had charged right wing extremists including some RSS members for the blast which killed three and injured 15 people in 2007.

Several other witnesses have also turned hostile in the case.