India hits back at Rahman Malik

New Delhi, July 11 : Reacting to Pakistan's interior minister Rahman Malik's allegation that India delayed the Samjhauta Express probe, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash Saturday said India has already handed over all information on the attack to them.

Saying 'it's India, not us who delayed the probe', Malik said the country has not given them the information Pakistan asked for.

'Why India is not giving information? We have taken up the matter with Indian High Commission,' Malik told reporters at Islamabad.

'We must receive information on Samjhauta Express blast as Pakistani nationals were killed in the incident. We have no doubt that local assistance was provided to Mumbai attackers,' he claimed.

Pakistan is going to file chargesheet against five people arrested in connection with the Mumbai attacks.

'We completed probe in record 76 days,' Malik claimed.

Trial of five suspects arrested by Pakistan will be held soon, Malik informed.

Meanwhile, Prakash told Times Now, 'The mastermind behind the Samjhauta Express is from Karachi and is a close associate of Daud Ibrahim. We have given them all information they asked for. Now it's their turn to act accordingly.'

'We have already received a dossier on this case from Pakistan. We will study it and then decide what to do,' he added.

On the other hand, on his way back from the G8 meet in Italy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said, 'I do hope that after our meeting we will have a reaffirmation on the part of Pakistan that they will bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai massacre to justice.'

The 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings were a terrorist attack that occurred around midnight on February 18 on the Samjhauta Express, a twice-weekly train service connecting Delhi, India, and Lahore, Pakistan. Bombs were set off in two carriages, both filled with passengers, just after the train passed Diwana station near the Indian city of Panipat, 90 kilometres (50 miles) north of New Delhi.

Sixty-eight people were killed in the ensuing fire and dozens more were injured. Of the 68 fatalities, most were Pakistani civilians, but the victims included some Indian civilians and Indian military personnel guarding the train.

--IBNS