Mail Today, 16 July 2010
HINDUTVA PLOT TO KILL V- P EXPOSED
By Ashish Khetan of Headlines Today
An exclusive peek into CBI investigations uncovers the role played by the saffron brigade in fomenting terrorist activities
CBI INVESTIGATIONS have exposed that the Hindutva terror brigade was contemplating an assassination bid on Vice- President Hamid Ansari during the annual convocation of the Jamia Millia Islamia in October 2007.
The investigating agency stumbled upon the extent to which the terror brigade was prepared to go while analysing audio recordings recovered from the 2007 Malegaon blasts accused, and self- proclaimed Shankaracharya Dayanand Pandey’s laptop.
Its suspicion is based on an exchange between the ‘ Shankaracharya’ and Dr R. P. Singh, an endocrinologist practising at the Apollo Hospital in Delhi.
Here’s the exchange that aroused the CBI’s suspicion — it took place in January 2008 and has been accessed by Headlines Today : ‘ Shankaracharya’: The country’s vice- president Hamid Ansari was present at an awards function at Jamia Millia Islamia.
Dr R. P. Singh: I had gone to protest against him. I was carrying 15 litres of petrol but didn’t get the chance to do anything.
The voices in the audio recording have been verified as belonging to the two men by a forensic science laboratory. The CBI had interrogated Dr Singh after the audio recording had come to light and subsequently let him go. Dr Singh has not been questioned since then. Pandey, who’s now lodged in Nashik Jail, had been nabbed by the late Maharashtra Anti- Terrorism Squad ( ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, days before he was killed during the 26/ 11 Mumbai terror strikes.
In the audio recording, Pandey was speaking with Dr Singh at a meeting held in Faridabad allegedly to discuss the Hindutva terror plan. Others present were Malegaon blasts key accused Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit and Delhi BJP leader ( and former East Delhi MP) B. L. Sharma ‘ Prem’. In the same meeting, Lt Col Purohit declared he had stopped believing in the Indian Constitution and would fight to establish a Hindu Rashtra.
He said: “ And If we toe the same line and abide by this Constitution, then we’ll become just like them. That’s why we talk about fighting the Constitution. We will fight this nation. This nations is not ours.
… We will fight for freedom. Hindu freedom.” Information accessed by Headlines Today from the investigators shows that Dr Singh was part of a larger saffron terror ring operating in the country. But although Pandey was arrested and booked on terror charges, Dr Singh is a free man.
Sources in the Maharashtra ATS informed Headlines Today that they didn’t arrest the doctor because there was no evidence to link him with the Malegaon blasts. Singh, even after being let off, is under the CBI scanner.
The recordings on Pandey’s laptop reveal more of Singh’s communal designs: “ Your number one enemy is the Muslim. I will start killing them from Delhi itself. I will start with killing and looting the thousand- two thousand of them who have opened showrooms.” By his own admission, Singh was procuring arms and ammunition to target the minority community. In one meeting he could be heard asking Purohit to supply him grenades, detonators and RDX. Sample this conversation: Lt Col Purohit: We will keep talking on the phone. I will keep giving you information about what I am doing, and you keep giving me information about what you are doing. The sole reason for this is that it will help in planning… As far as shelter training goes, you can talk to me about it anytime, even midnight.
Dr Singh: I want grenades, high- voltage detonators, high- voltage batteries and RDX.
… Those we approached said the army can give it. If we get this then we can put up a glorious war. I can get you at least a hundred suicidal people from Jammu.” As the CBI pieces together the Hindutva terror jigsaw, it’s becoming apparent that the agency has only scratched the surface.
