RSS to work for getting stain on Swami Aseemanand removed

Delighted with the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya Singh in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is looking forward to remove the "stain" on another activist Swami Aseemanand, an accused in the cases of Samjhauta train bomb blast and Macca Masjid in Hyderabad.

SANGH TO TAKE LEGAL RECOURSE

A highly placed RSS functionary told India Today that the organisation was contemplating to explore all legal angles to secure bail for Aseemanand, whom it believes is falsely implicated in these cases.

"The NIA claims that Aseemanand has confessed his role in these cases. The fact is he has not given any confession. More importantly, he has retracted the statement, which the NIA calls as a confession, in the court. We are going to challenge the NIA's case based on the new information we have obtained pertaining to this case," the RSS functionary said.

ASEEMANAND ONLY LISTENED TO JOSHI

According to him, Aseemanand has only admitted that he knew late Sunil Joshi, the alleged conspirator of these bomb blasts, and he used to contact him on several occasions. Aseemanand was not involved in planning or execution of any of the blasts. "A confession is something about admitting one's guilt in a crime. When Aseemanand was not involved in planning or executing any crime how can his statement be called as a confession?" the functionary asked.

He claimed that Aseemanand's only mistake was that he listened to Joshi patiently and did not reveal to anyone what he conveyed to him. As Joshi has been killed by yet unidentified people a couple of years ago it is difficult to establish what transpired between him and Aseemanand.

THE NIA FAUX PAS

The RSS has gathered information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on one prisoner Kaleem, lodged in Hyderabad prison along with Aseemanand. The NIA had claimed that Aseemanand had confessed to his involvement in the Macca Masjid blast because he felt a wrong person Kaleem was being victimised. The NIA had claimed that they had arrested Kaleem as a suspect in this case and had kept him in Aseemanand's service. Kaleem reportedly won over Aseemanand with his good behaviour and honest service that melted the swami's heart to reveal the truth.

"The record shows that Kaleem was never kept in Aseemanand's service in the Hyderabad prison. Also, it has been established that he was arrested for cheating and theft not under terrorism charges. So where the question on Aseemanand's heart melting for an innocent person arises?" the RSS functionary said.

"We will take the legal battle to a next level soon. I am hopeful Aseemanand too will come out clean as Pragya," he said.

ALSO READ: NIA's 2008 Malegaon blast chargesheet: Clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya, ATS probe by Karkare flawed