RSS leader in Ajmer blast chargesheet

NEW DELHI - A senior RSS leader's name figured in the chargesheet in the 2007 Ajmer blast in Rajasthan, a development that was rubbished by BJP and RSS but latched onto by Congress which accused the outfit of disturbing communal amity.

Indresh Kumar, the RSS leader, was present at a secret meeting held in a Gujarati guest house in Jaipur on October 31, 2005, in which six other functionaries of the organisation were also present, the chargesheet said.

The 806-page chargesheet was filed before a court in Ajmer yesterday against five accused by the Rajasthan ATS.

ATS sources said Indresh has not been made an accused in the case as further investigation is underway to ascertain whether he had any links with the blast.

The RSS was quick to dismiss the charge as "far from truth".

"We reject the media reports that claim that the name of Indresh Kumar, a senior functionary from New Delhi, features in the Ajmer dargah blast chargesheet. His name has only been mentioned in the document in connection with holding a meeting," RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav told PTI here.

"It is far from the truth. It will be challenged in the court," he added.

The BJP spoke in a similar vein, with party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman saying, "There is nothing substantial or credible against him... No organisation has been named. How can anyone say that BJP or RSS is involved or that this is saffron terror."

However, the Congress utilised the issue to paint the RSS in communal colours.

"The RSS has been consistently working to undermine and upset the pluralistic ethos of India and disturb communal amity... The latest chargesheet is just a manifestation of its direction right from the beginning," party spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters here.

On his part, Kumar refuted any involvement in the blast. .

"It is a political conspiracy hatched against me".

"Investigating agencies have been misused. The present government protects the traitors and wages a war against patriots. I will fight this injustice in court", he said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, "the truth has come out and the RSS should accept it. Later, the background of its leaders whose names have appeared and their links will come out. One should trust the judiciary that the truth will come out and those guilty will be punished."

The five accused in the chargesheet include Devendra Gupta, allegedly linked to radical Hindu group Abhinav Bharat.

They have been charged with murder and defiling a place of worship.

The chargesheet was filed by the Anti-Terrorist Squad in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Jagendra Kumar Jain in connection with the blast on the premises of the Dargah of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti that left three persons dead and 15 others injured.

Gupta and the other two accused in the case --Lokesh Sharma and Chander Shekhar Lave-- are in judicial custody. The accused have been charged with sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 120B (conspiracy) and 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship) of IPC among others.

Two other accused-- Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangre --are absconding while another accused Sunil Joshi died during the course of investigation, according to ATS officer Satyendra Singh who filed the charge sheet. The prosecution has cited 133 witnesses.

The court fixed October 26 for arguments on the charge sheet.

Gupta, who is believed to have links with Hindu group Abhinav Bharat, was arrested in April this year when he had come to meet his ailing mother here.

Officials had been probing Gupta's alleged links with Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key accused in the Malegaon blast case. The ATS had arrested Chandra Shekhar from Madhya Pradesh.

PTI - October 23, 2010