Samjhauta: 'Told them can’t take it lying down... must reply, bomb for bomb'

Posted: Mon Jan 10 2011, 03:28 hrs
Swami Aseemanand’s 26-page confession to the CBI details the design of the Hindu terror 
 

Swami Aseemanand’s 26-page confession to the CBI details the design of the Hindu terror web. The confession, recorded in Hindi, was first made available by Tehelka on its website. Below are excerpts from his statement. Translated by Rahul Tripathi

Meeting Pragya

In January 2003, Jayantibhai Kevat told me over the phone that an ABVP (BJP students’ wing) worker named Pragya Singh Thakur wanted to meet me... I went to Kevat’s house in Navsari... there I met Pragya Singh.

One month later, Pragya Singh came to Waghai. Three young men were with her. She introduced one of them as Manoj, but later I came to know his name was Sunil Joshi. Pragya Singh told me he was from Indore, but later I got to know he was wanted in some cases in Madhya Pradesh... Pragya Singh left Waghai with these boys and I returned to Shabri Dham. Pragya Singh and Manoj alias Sunil Joshi came to Shabri Dham after a month. They stayed for a day or two.

 
I went to Ujjain Kumbh in April-May 2004. Pragya Singh had put up a tent there under the banner of Jai Vande Mataram. Manoj alias Sunil Joshi and I stayed in the RSS office. A man called Bharatbhai had also come there from Valsad. I knew him from earlier (since 1998).

‘Do something’

Since 2002, Hindu temples had been under bomb attacks by Muslims. I was very disturbed. I kept discussing it with Bharatbhai and I felt he too wanted to do something about it. I discussed it with Pragya Singh and Sunil Joshi and understood that they shared my views. In 2006, a blast took place in Sankatmochan temple in Kashi. Pragya Singh, Manoj alias Sunil Joshi and Bharatbhai were in Shabri Dham. All of us were disturbed by the blast... we decided we should retaliate. We decided that Sunil Joshi and Bharatbhai would go to Jharkhand and buy SIM cards and weapons, such as pistols. I suggested that they go to Gorakhpur and Agra too, meet Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur and Rajeshwar Singh in Agra and discuss this. I gave Sunil Joshi Rs 25,000 for the purchases and they left in April 2006.

The meeting

Manoj alias Sunil Joshi met us at Shabri Dham in May 2006. He told me that three or four others had joined us. We held a meeting in June at the house of Bharatbhai in Valsad. Bharatbhai, Pragya Singh, Sunil Joshi and I were there, besides four youths whose names I did not know then. I met one of them later and learnt that his name was Sandeep Dange. Later, the CBI showed me photographs of the other three and I recognised them. I got to know that one of them was called Ramji, another was Lokesh Sharma and the third was Amit.

In the meeting at Bharatbhai’s home, I told everyone that bombs should be the reply to bombs; we Hindus should not take it lying down. Sandeep Dange replied that Hindus were silent; you (Aseemanand) too stay silent. He said whoever were doing (something) would keep doing it. I understood the sarcasm was because he and Pragya Singh had asked me for money and I had refused... Sunil Joshi later explained to us that Sandeep Dange was somewhat aggressive but a nice boy. I gathered that these people had already been thinking about this and were also planning something.

Plot takes shape

After dining, Sunil, Bharatbhai and Pragya Singh and I sat together, separately from the other four. I suggested that Malegaon (Maharashtra) has an 80 per cent Muslim population, so we could start nearby; the first bomb should be planted there. Then I said the Nizam of Hyderabad had opted to go with Pakistan at the time of Independence, so Hyderabad should be taught a lesson. I said Ajmer was a place where many Hindus too visit the Dargah... a bomb in Ajmer would scare Hindus and they would stop going there. I also suggested a bomb at Aligarh Muslim University because Muslim youths would be there. They all agreed to my suggestions... Sunil Joshi was asked to do a recce of the four places. He also suggested that since only Pakistanis travel by the Samjhauta Express between India and Pakistan, the train too should be bombed. He took the responsibility for this himself. Sunil Joshi said they had procured pistols and SIM cards from Jharkhand. He said Yogi Aditya Nath and Rajeshwar Singh had not helped. Sunil Joshi said a blast on the Samjhauta Express could not be carried out using a SIM and we would need chemicals. The chemicals would be arranged by Sandeep. Sunil Joshi said there should be three teams for the blast. The first team would handle finances, the second would assemble the material, the third would plant the bomb. Sunil Joshi said it was best that none of the three groups knew the others. He took the responsibility of recruiting the three teams. Our meeting ended with this discussion and I was given charge of arranging finances and hideouts. Sandeep’s job was to make and store the bomb. Sunil Joshi said none of the members in any group would ask questions about any of the others, because one arrest would mean everyone else getting caught.

Progress report

Sunil Joshi came to meet me at Shabri Dham in 2006, by which time the Malegaon blast had taken place. He told me the Malegaon blast had been carried out by our men. I told Sunil about newspaper reports that some Muslims had been arrested. So I asked him who specifically in our teams had carried out the attack. Sunil refused to tell me. I told Sunil he was only making a claim but he was not really behind the blast. Sunil assured me they had done it.

In February 2007, Sunil, Bharatbhai and I met in a Shiva temple at a place called Balpur. Sunil told me some good news would appear in the papers in two days... After two-three days I went to Bharatbhai’s house where Sunil Joshi and Pragya were already there. News of the Samjhauta Express blast had appeared in the papers. I told Sunil Joshi that the Samjhauta blast has already taken place and you are sitting here. He replied his people had done it. I told him it was the work of the ISI, Pakistan. Sunil asked, why would Muslims kill Muslims? I replied this happens everyday in Pakistan. Sunil did not respond.

At Bharatbhai’s home, Sunil Joshi took Rs 40,000 from me... A day or two later, he called me and told me to keep reading the newspapers, I would get good news. Three or four days later came the news of the blast at the Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad. Seven or eight days later, Sunil Joshi came to Shabri Dham with a Telugu newspaper with a photograph of the scene. Sunil told me that this too had been done by his men. I told him that the newspapers have reported that some Muslims have been caught. Sunil said no, it was his people who had done it. He stayed there for a day or two.

(After two or three months) Sunil Joshi came to meet me. With him were two boys, Mehul and Raj, who had been to Shabri Dham earlier. Sunil Joshi said the blast in Ajmer had been carried out by his people and he too had been present.

‘Indreshji’

I asked Sunil who else had been with him; he claimed there were two Muslim boys. I asked him where he had got Muslim youths from. He said Indreshji (RSS leader Indresh Kumar) had provided the boys. I told him that if Indreshji provided these people, then if you get caught Indreshji’s name will come out.

I told him that his life was in danger from Indreshji and from the Muslims hired for the blast. I asked him to stay with me but he said that he had some work at Dewas in MP and would come back once that was over. Sunil said Mehul and Raj would stay on. He told me that both were wanted in connection with the Baroda Best Bakery case. I told Sunil that the Best Bakery case is lodged in Gujarat and Shabri Dham too is in Gujarat. It was not safe for them to stay and he should take them away. Next day, Sunil Joshi and the other two left for Dewas in MP.

Murder

Some days later, Bharatbhai called up to say Sunil Joshi had been murdered... I immediately called up Lt Col Purohit (Army officer since arrested for terror attacks) and told him that since he is with Intelligence, he should find out who had killed Sunil Joshi... Col Purohit (later) told me that Joshi had killed someone and it appeared that someone had taken revenge.

More on Indresh

During the Shabri Kumbh (earlier) in Pumpa Sarovar, Indreshji had met me in a tent. Sunil Joshi was present. Indreshji had told us that what we were discussing, replying to a bomb with a bomb, was not our work. He said we should stick to our brief of working with tribals as instructed by the RSS. He said their line of thought was the same as ours. He said Sunil Joshi has been assigned this work. Indreshji told me that whatever help Sunil needed, they would provide him.

I got to know that Sunil had met Indreshji with Bharatbhai in Nagpur too. And Indreshji had given Sunil Rs 50,000 in front of Bharatbhai. Col Purohit had once told me that Indreshji is an ISI agent and he had documents to prove this.

In April 2008 a big meeting of Abhinav Bharat was convened in Bhopal. Pragya Singh, Bharatbhai, Col Purohit, Dayanand Pandey, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Sameer Kulkarni, Himani Savarkar, Tapan Gosh, Dr R P Singh and Rajeshwar Singh and many others attended the meeting. I proposed that for each bomb we should reply strongly with another.

Malegaon-2

In October 2008 I got a call from Sandeep Dange. He told me he was at a place called Vyara and wanted to come to Shabri Dham for a couple of days. I told him I would be leaving for Nadiad and it would not be safe for him to stay there in my absence. Sandeep asked me if I could take him along; he would travel till Baroda. I drove from Shabri Dham to Vyara bus stand. Another man was with Sandeep. Both sat down in a hurry. They had two or three bags of different sizes. I asked them where they were coming from. They told me they were coming from Maharashtra. I dropped them at Rajpipla junction. It was later that I realised they had met me just a day after the (2008) Malegaon blast. Later I was told that the man accompanying Sandeep was called Ramji.

Remorse

Before every blast or a couple of days after, Sunil used to tell me that it was the work of our men. But by the Malegaon blast in 2008 he had been murdered and it was only later that I came to know that even in this our men had been involved. Till Sunil was alive we worked on each blast together, but now I feel that whatever we did was wrong. I am pained. That is why I have confessed. I have nothing else to say

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