Caravan's Aseemanand interview false, says his lawyer

India

oi-Aswathy

New Delhi, Feb 5: Days after a magazine quoted him saying that his terrorism acts were sanctioned by the RSS chief, Aseemanand has denied of having given any such interview to the magazine.

Delhi-based Caravan Magazine carried a press release in which Aseemanand was quoted as saying that his terrorist acts were 'sanctioned by the highest levels of the RSS-all the way up to Mohan Bhagwat, the current RSS chief, who was the organisation's general secretary at the time'.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat sanctioned my terrorism acts, Aseemanand told Caravan

Aseemanand is incarcerated in Ambala Central Jail for abetting terrorist attacks on various targets between 2006 and 2008 -Samjhauta Express (February 2007), Hyderabad Mecca Masjid (May 2007), Ajmer Dargah (October 2007) and two attacks in Malegaon (September 2006 and September 2008)-which together took the lives of 119 people.

Aseemanand told The Caravan that Bhagwat said of the violence, "It is very important that it be done. But you should not link it to the Sangh."

The article by Leena Gita Reghunath said further: "Aseemanand told me about a meeting that allegedly took place, in July 2005. After an RSS conclave in Surat, senior Sangh leaders including Bhagwat and Indresh Kumar, who is now on the organisation's powerful seven-member national executive council, travelled to a temple in the Dangs, Gujarat, where Aseemanand was living-a two-hour drive. In a tent pitched by a river several kilometres away from the temple, Bhagwat and Kumar met with Aseemanand and his accomplice Sunil Joshi. Joshi informed Bhagwat of a plan to bomb several Muslim targets around India. According to Aseemanand, both RSS leaders approved, and Bhagwat told him, "You can work on this with Sunil. We will not be involved, but if you are doing this, you can consider us to be with you."

In a fresh twist, Aseemanand's lawyer has come up with a press release, terming the interview ' a bundle of lies'. The press release says that the content of the article of false and baseless and Aseemanand has denied of having given any such interview.

Aseemanand, in the press release, has challenged the magazine to prove the truth of the allegations or apologise.

The interview, published with a caption 'The Believer' in the magazine's February edition, is a compilation of four interviews taken during various occasions in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 at Ambala Jail.

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