[Reader-list] SK Sinha - "Linking me to Dayanand 'malicious and false'"

[Kshmendra Kaul]

Linking me to Dayanand 'malicious and false': Sinha
Agencies Posted: Nov 17, 2008 at 1527 hrs

New Delhi, November 17: 
 
Describing charges of his links with Malegaon blast accused Swami Dayanand Pandey as 'totally malicious and false', former Jammu and Kashmir governor Lt Gen (retd) S K Sinha on Monday said he was contemplating taking legal action against those making such accusations. 
 
"This is totally malicious and false. And such careless things are being said on the eve of elections. So far as I am concerned, I do not know this man Pandey," Sinha told a news channel today. 
 
Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had alleged that Pandey had links with Sinha and the matter should be investigated. 
 
The former governor said he heard about Dayanand Pandey for the first time when his name appeared in newspapers about ten days ago. 
 
"Some people have been saying that he had meals with me and that he stayed in Raj Bhawan. It is absolutely false," Sinha said. 
 
The former army official said he was considering taking legal action against those making such allegations. 
 
About the allegations, Sinha said, "It is as absurd as it would be for me to say that Mufti really used to go abroad repeatedly and he was contacting Osama-bin Laden. Such baseless and irresponsible things, leaves me surprised." 
 
http://www.expressindia.com/story_print.php?storyId=386822


--- On Mon, 11/17/08, Nitesh Bhatnagar <nitbhag at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Nitesh Bhatnagar <nitbhag at gmail.com>
Subject: [Reader-list] Meet Dayanand Pandey
To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Date: Monday, November 17, 2008, 3:10 PM

Was J&K ex-governor close to terror suspect?
NDTV Correspondent
Monday, November 17, 2008, (Srinagar)

The Malegaon blast investigations just got messier with former Chief
Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Mohammed Syed demanding that the
Centre investigate the links between former Jammu and Kashmir Governor
Lt General S K Sinha and terror suspect Dayanand Pandey.

Syed says that there were reports that Pandey, the alleged mastermind
behind the Malegaon blasts, was the guest of the Governor in 2007.
(Watch)

The former J&K Chief Minister said: "They say Dayanand Pandey came in
2007 and even before that he was here. He is the mastermind of the
Malegaon blast. He has been arrested. He was the guest of His
Excellency Governor retired General S K Sinha. I think the
investigating officer has made this revelation that they have
interrogated him. ATS did it and they have the admission, it should be
thoroughly probed. I don't know if General S K Sinha is involved. I
can't say that, but they were close."

Self-styled guru Dayanand Pandey, arrested by Maharashtra's
Anti-Terror Squad from Kanpur, is a man of many faces.

In the police files he is Dayanand Pandey, the man who with Lieutenant
Colonel S Purohit was part of the Malegaon blast conspiracy. The
association reportedly goes back to their days together in Srinagar.
The police stumbled onto him through Purohit's confessions.

In his hometown Kanpur, he was called Sudhakar Dwivedi. He lived with
his father Uday Dhar Dwivedi, a retired inspector of Uttar Pradesh
Police, finally arrested from the house of his brother Pushkar
Dwivedi, an advocate in Rawatpur.

As a young man, he put himself through religious studies at Varanasi's
Sampoornanand Vidyalay. He was called Amritanand.

In 2006, he went to Gorakhpur as Jagatguru Shankracharya on the
invitation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Shiv Pratap Shukla.
Somebody questioned his identity and he fled.

In Faridabad Mata Mandir, he was a regular visitor going by the grand
title of Jagatguru Swami Amritanand Devtirth Maraharj. He met people,
mostly VIP visitors only in the night making ashram workers
suspicious.

In Jammu, where he claimed to be the president of Sharda Peeth, he
called himself Swami Amritanand. The Peeth is an important body for
Kashmiri Pandits. After being ousted for misappropriating funds, he
founded a rival body, Sharda Sarvgya Peeth. And went by alias Swami
Amritanand Dev Teerth.

However, sources say it's finally in Srinagar where Dayanand Pandey
moved to in 2002-2003, living close to the cantonment area. He
reportedly met Lieutenant Colonel Purohit and sourced weapons from
him.

Police believe his many identities and his saffron garb offered a
perfect cover to network terror activities.