India arrests 'Hindu leader's killer'

India arrests 'Hindu leader's killer'

The killer of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya has been arrested, India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) says.

Haren Pandya was killed last month

It named the suspect as 29-year-old Ashgar Ali.

He and three other men were arrested in Andhra Pradesh state late on Thursday night, but CBI director PC Sharma said Mr Ali was "the main killer who pulled the trigger".

Haren Pandya was shot at close range in broad daylight last month as he took a morning walk and later died in hospital.

A CBI team is still interrogating all four men, who will be produced in a court in the western city of Ahmedabad on 21 April.

Leading figure

The CBI says that Ashgar Ali has a long criminal record and is wanted in relation to other offences in Hyderabad, the Andhra Pradesh capital.

It also accuses him of having links with Pakistan, where he is said to have received explosives training.

Mr Pandya was a senior member of the BJP

Mr Pandya was a leading figure in the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat, where some of the worst religious riots in decades were witnessed last year.

He was also a senior member of the right wing pro-Hindu organisation, the RSS, and was reported to have had bitter differences with the state's chief minister, Narendra Modi, who was widely criticised for his handling of last year's unrest.

Ashgar Ali has also been accused of involvement in the killing of Jagdish Tiwari, a local leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, Hindu World Council) in Ahmedabad.