Assemanand's lawyer rubbishes reports of him giving RSS-linked interview

A lawyer representing Swami Aseemanand, one of the accused in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case, has rubbished reports of Assemanand having given an interview to the Caravan Magazine, in which he accuses the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Mohan Bhagwat, of being involved in the attack that claimed 68 lives.

According to the interview, Swami Aseemanand allegedly blames Bhagwat for playing a role in the blasts on the Samjhauta Express (February 2007), a bi-weekly train, the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad (May 2007) and the Ajmer Dargah (October 2007).

Aseemanand's lawyer J S Rana said he had talked to other lawyers fighting the case and no such interview has been conducted.

"Aseemanand said that the entire incident published in the magazine is a lie and he did not give any such interview. This is a conspiracy by the NIA (National Investigation Agency) and political people so that they are able to mould the case according to their will," said Rana.

Earlier in 2011, the National Investigative Agency had filed its charge sheet against Aseemanand and four others, but the NIA officials could not prove charges against him.

Doubting the veracity of the magazine's interview with the main accused, who is currently lodged in Ambala Central Jail, the RSS dubbed the interview as "rubbish and concocted".

The Executive Editor of the Caravan Magazine, Vinod K. Jose, however, said, "This interview is done with the full consent of Aseemanand inside the jail. I don't know which lawyer has come out with the statement because over five different blasts over five states, Aseemanand has 20 different lawyers as I understand. So, I don't know which lawyer has issued the statement. As far as we are concerned, we have done this interview with full consent of Aseemanand and we have the interview's tape recorded, which runs over nine hours and 20 minutes or so.