India

BJP MP Yogi Adityanath Denies Involvement in Ajmer Blast

Tarique Anwar, BeyondHeadlines

Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, yesterday denied the allegations of funding the 2007 Ajmer blast and said that the central government had been falsely implicating him in the case. He also denied having any links with Swami Aseemanand, the prime accused in the case.

His denial came after reports claimed that Bharat Bhai, who is under custody in connection with the blast that left three persons dead, has told his interrogators that the BJP MP from Gorakhpur had helped arrange money for the terror plot.

Adityanath said, “I am not involved in the Ajmer blast and ready for any probe or questioning in the case. I have no links with Aseemanand. I don’t even know him.”

“I am a part of the RSS but I do not know Sunil Joshi or Bharat Bhai. I am willing to face any probe. If investigating agencies have facts, I welcome any sort of probe. The UPA is misusing investigating agencies,” he said adding, “The irony of the situation is that the government has given a clean chit to Indian Mujahideen (IM), Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Lashkar-e-Taiyiba (LeT) in the case and is only targeting parties like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).”

Adityanath told the media at a press conference in Gorakhpur: “All is being done on the directions of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which wants to malign the image of Hindu religious leaders and Hindu outfits.”

“I am willing to face any enquiry. I will welcome the investigating agencies if they come up with some evidences against me,” he added. He said that the allegations were “motivated” and are being levelled against him by the UPA government for political gains,” the MP said.

Three persons were killed and fifteen injured in a blast at Durgah Shareef of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer on October 11, 2007. The Rajasthan ATS, in its chargesheet in the blast case, had listed five accused identified as Devendra Gupta, allegedly linked to Abhinav Bharat; Lokesh Sharma, Chander Shekhar Lave, Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangre. The sixth accused in the case – Sunil Joshi – was found murdered while the investigations in the terror attack were underway.

According to key eye-witness Bharat Bhai, Sunil Joshi had met the MP at his Gorakhpur residence where he spent the night. Yogi’s landline numbers of his residences in Delhi and Gorakhpur also figured in the personal diary of Joshi that was seized by the ATS during the course of investigations into his murder.

The revelations about Joshi’s meeting with Yogi are purported to have been attached to the chargesheet into the Ajmer blast as supporting documents filed by the Rajasthan ATS before a designated court recently.

Bharat Bhai, a resident of Valsad in Gujarat, had worked in Dubai and Canada before coming to Valsad to spread the message of Swami Vivekanand, according to his statement to the investigators.

Bharat Bhai, allegedly at the instance of Aseemanand, had accompanied Joshi to Chittaranjan (Mihijam) from where they reached Agra, to meet someone by the name of Rajeshwar. This happened in 2006. Bharat Bhai is learnt to have revealed in his statement that after meeting Rajeshwar, they reached Gorakhpur and spent the night as Yogi’s guest.

In the chargesheet, RSS leader Indresh Kumar has been accused of attending a secret meeting with Pragya Thakur and Swami Aseemanand among others who have been identified as chief conspirators. The meeting, the chargesheet reportedly states, was held at Gujarati Samaj Guest House in Jaipur in 2005.

The venue was allegedly booked by Sunil Joshi in the name of Manoj Kumar. Indresh’s telephone number also figure in Joshi’s diary along with that of BJP MP Yogi. The ATS has submitted that diary before the court.

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