The chargesheet filed by the Rajasthan anti-terrorism squad (ATS) in the Ajmer blast says that the Hindu radical group chose targets to strike in states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh but the group members used to have meetings in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. The ATS has mentioned details of such meetings in the chargesheet.
The gist of the chargesheet have references to the RSS 20 times but does not name any particular outfit for the attack. It defines them as a group of Hindu radicals.
According to sources, it was not the Rajasthan ATS which first mentioned RSS leader Indresh Kumar’s name first but the MP ATS, which got the name while questioning Shivam Dhakad, allegedly associated with people involved in the Ajmer blast. The Rajasthan ATS had also questioned Dhakad when he was in Judicial custody in MP. The ATS had mentioned active RSS members, with their position in the organisation, as suspects.
According to the ATS, the group members met for the first time in Ujjain during the Kumbh Mela, sometime in March-April 2004. It was Swami Asimanand who presided over the meeting. The members met again at Mihizam under Jamtada district in Jharkhand in May 2005 and subsequently at Gujarati Guesthouse in Jaipur on October 31, 2005.
According to the ATS, Indresh Kumar addressed the gathering.
In series of such meetings, the crucial meeting was held at Asimanand’s Sabri Asharma in Gujarat in February 2006 on the pretence of Sabri mela and the group reviewed its preparedness to strike at targets.
According to the ATS, the Hindu radicals met at Ramji Kalsangra’s residence in Indore and took stock of the situation but the most important meeting was held in March 2007 in Mihizam in Jharkhand.
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RSS is unfazed by ‘role’ of Indresh
Jalgaon, Oct. 29: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday said it is unfazed by the Rajasthan anti-terror squad naming its senior leader Indresh Kumar in its chargesheet in the 2007 Ajmer blast.
“In the past, there have been several occasions when Sangh has faced allegations. Every time, it has come out (clean) and has grown,” RSS spokesman and joint-general secretary Dattatreya Hosbale told reporters on the sidelines of the three-day national executive committee meet, which began here on Friday.
Indresh Kumar is attending the meeting but he did not speak to the media. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is also present at the meeting that is being held at a school.
The allegations against Kumar are “fabricated and political motivated”, the functionary said.
Kumar had earlier denied any involvement in the blast and rubbished the charge as “totally fabricated and a political conspiracy”, but Rajasthan home minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal has insisted that ATS has “concrete evidence” against him and interrogate him soon.
“ATS included Indresh’s name in the chargesheet on the basis of evidence and he will be interrogated soon,” Mr Dhariwal had said on Tuesday. Claiming that ATS had done an “independent and fair inquiry”, Mr Dhariwal had refuted allegations that inclusion of the RSS leader’s name in the chargesheet was politically motivated. —PTI