Swami Aseemanand is a former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or National Patriotic Organization), also known the Sangh, is a right-wing Hindu nationalist, paramilitary, volunteer, and allegedly militant organization for Hindu males in India...

 (RSS) activist from India who is accused of planning terror attacks on Ajmer Sharif, Mecca Masjid, 2006 Malegaon blasts

2006 Malegaon blasts

The 2006 Malegaon bombings were a series of bomb blasts that took place on 8 September 2006 in Malegaon, a town in the Nashik district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, located at some 290 km to the northeast of state capital Mumbai....

 and 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings

2007 Samjhauta Express bombings

The 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings were a terrorist attack that occurred around midnight on 18 February 2007 on the Samjhauta Express, a twice-weekly train service connecting Delhi, India, and Lahore, Pakistan. Bombs were set off in two carriages, both filled with passengers, just after the train...

. The Central Bureau of Investigation

Central Bureau of Investigation

The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...

 (CBI) arrested Aseemanand on November 19, 2010 for his involement in Mecca Masjid bombing.On 24 December 2010 he was handed over to NIA

Nia

Nia is the debut full-length album by American hip hop duo Blackalicious, released in Europe in late 1999 by Mo' Wax and later released in the United States by Quannum Projects with a slightly altered track list.- Reception :...

. In his confession before Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Dabas at Tis Hazari courts on December 18, 2010, he confessed that he and other Hindu activists were involved in bombings at various Muslim religious places as they wanted to answer every Islamist terror act with “a bomb for bomb’’ policy. His confession, recorded in Hindi, has been reported in Tehelka news magazine Issue Dated January 15, 2011 “In the Words of a Zealot.’’. However, in late March 2011, Aseemanand stated that he had been pressurised by the investigating agencies to confess that he was behind these blasts. He was indicted on June 20, 2011 for planning the blast.

Early life

Aseemanand (Naba Kumar aka Jiten Chatterjee aka Omkarnath) was born in Kamarpukar located in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. His father was Bibhutibhushan Sarkar a noted freedom fighter and his mother is Pramila Sarkar. He is one of six brothers. His early life was influenced by Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans and his world renowned disciple Swami Vivekanand. As a student he was inducted into the RSS. A graduate in Physics, he did his post-graduate degree at the University of Burdwan, and it was here that his association with the RSS got stronger. He went on to work full time in 1977 with the RSS linked Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA). His name Aseemanand was courtesy his guru Swami Parmanand in whose ashram in Bangram village of Burdwan Aseemanand stayed till 1988.

Life with tribals

Aseemanand moved in 1988 to the Andaman and Nicobar islands to work with the local office of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram.Sources confirmed that Swami Aseemanand had constructed a few hut type Temples and in some remote areas installed the idols of ‘Lord Hanuman’, perhaps as per the belief that the tribals worshipped the monkey god. “One such temple still could be seen in a village near Miletilek of South Andaman,” said a person who knew Swami Aseemanand very closely in Andamans.

In 1993, he came to the headquarters of VKA in Jaspurnagar in Chattisgarh. After two years, Aseemanand was sent to Dang district of Gujarat to work with tribals in the area.Local tribals told him that the Ramayana era mythological character 'Shabari

Shabari

Shabari is an elderly woman ascetic in the Hindu epic Ramayana. According to the Ramayana, she was an ardently devoted woman who received Rama's darshan and blessing due to her Bhakti to Him.- Story :...

' used to live in those forests which influenced Aseemanand to build a Shabari temple there. Under the aegis of the RSS, in February 2006 the Shabari Kumbh was organised in Subir village. According to Sangh activists at the site, the Shabari Kumbh was part of the RSS offensive against Christian missionaries and an attempt to establish Hindutva in this adivasi-dominated district.

Allegations and arrest

Rajasthan ATS arrested Devendra Gupta on April 29 in connection with 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast. During the course of his interrogation, Gupta mentioned that it was Aseemanand and Sunil Joshi who had brought him into their fold and convinced him to carry out attacks in Ajmer and Mecca Masjid.This lead a team from Rajasthan ATS to track Aseemanand.He was arrested by CBI on November 19, 2010 from an ashram in Haridwar in Uttarakhand for his alleged involvement in the Ajmer, Hyderabad and Samjhauta Express blasts.

Confession and aftermath

On 16 December, Aseemanand had requested the magistrate to record his confession about his involvement in a string of terror attacks. He stated that he was making the confession without any fear, force, coercion or inducement.In accordance with the law, the magistrate asked Aseemanand to reflect over his decision and sent him to judicial custody for two days — away from any police interference or influence.On 18 December, Aseemanand returned. “I know I can be sentenced to the death penalty but I still want to make the confession,” Aseemanand said. Over the next five hours, Aseemanand explained to the magistrate about the involvement of a few Hindutva leaders, including himself, in planning and executing a series of terror attacks. A letter written by Aseemanand on December 20, 2010, two days after his confession to the CBI, was presented as evidence in January 2011 to show that the confession he gave was voluntary.In the letter, Aseemanand has explained his change of heart after meeting a Muslim boy who was falsely implicated in Malegaon blasts.

However on 12 May 2011 Aseemanand claimed that his confessional statements were obtained by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) "under pressure". On June 2011 The National Investigation Agency(NIA) indicted Swami Aseemanand in Samjhauta Express train blast case. and 2007 Ajmer dargah blasts case.