What RSS said to the PM about Malegaon blast

Making it clear that Malegaon blast accused Colonel Srikant Purohit has no links with it, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up an independent commission. The right-wing organisation wants the commission to probe an alleged plot to assassinate its chief Mohan Bhagwat by the former military intelligence officer and efforts to 'malign' the image of the Sangh.

In a letter to Dr Singh, Sangh Sarkaryavah (general secretary) Suresh Joshi Bhayyaji said the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad has evidence to prove that Malegaon blast accused Colonel Purohit and Swami Dayanand Pandey were simultaneously plotting to eliminate Bhagwat and senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar.

"At the time of Malegaon blast investigations, a senior ATS official had informed one of our prominent leaders about this conspiracy. Yet, shockingly, some elements in the investigative agencies have been trying to club the RSS with those very same people who were plotting against it," the letter dated February 9 said.

Copies of the letter addressed to Dr Singh were made available to the media at a press conference by RSS.

The four-page letter delivered to the PMO on Thursday stated that the fundamental question which needed to be addressed was, "How could the RSS be bracketed with those who were viciously hostile to it and conspiring to kill its leaders?"

"We will help any probe to get to the truth. An independent commission should be set up as we see a political hand behind them (Purohit and Pandey) to malign the image of RSS. The way a Congress general secretary (apparently referring to Digvijay Singh) is speaking against RSS, the truth needs to be ascertained," said Sangh leader Manmohan Vaidya.

He was replying to a question about the kind of probe RSS was demanding at a time when the case was already being looked into by various agencies.

Vaidya claimed that Purohit was never part of the RSS though he "tried to get close to RSS and tried to create a feud within the organisation...he dubbed Indresh Kumar as an Inter Services Intelligence agent."

The RSS leader claimed that the way the probe was being 'influenced' and the way a Congress general secretary was "running a vicious campaign against the Sangh", it was not possible for the investigation to make a headway.

Therefore, it was essential that an independent commission was set up, he said.

According to the letter, the chargesheet filed by the ATS in Malegaon blast case in January last year contained transcripts of the audio CD detailing the conversations of the accused.

"They revealed that while the plotters were organising a chemical attack on Bhagwat, they had given a pistol to a named, specific person (Alok) to eliminate Indresh Kumar," read the letter.

Asked why the RSS took so long to react to the developments while it had the details since 2009, Sangh leader Ram Madhav said the organisation believed that the investigation agencies would do the needful.

"But when we realised that it was not the case, we wrote to the prime minister," he said.