Malegaon blast accused not part of RSS: Ram Madhav

New Delhi, Feb 11 (ANI): Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) spokesperson Ram Madhav on Friday categorically denied that Srikant Purohit and Dayanand Pandey, the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, are a part of the RSS.

Madhav's comments came soon after the RSS sent a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, urging him to take action against the perceived 'politicisation' of the investigations into the Malegaon blast case.

Madhav clarified that Purohit and Pandey had never been a part of the RSS, and had instead been leveling baseless allegations to tarnish the image of the Hindu group.

"Neither Srikant Purohit nor Dayanand Pandey have anything to do with the RSS. They have never been our members. They had no relation whatsoever with the RSS. On the contrary, they actually, in the last four-five years starting from 2005, were attempting to create fissures within the organisation by resorting to baseless canards," Madhav told reports here.

"One of them I have mentioned, like IndreshJi (Indresh Kumar, a blast accused). There were also canards that some Parivar (RSS) leaders were trying to kill some other Parivar (RSS) leaders. Such baseless canards they were trying to float within the organisation with a view to create some kind of fissures," he added.

Deeming it a political conspiracy, Madhav said Pandey and Purohit were being 'used' by groups with vested interests to create an atmosphere of distrust in the RSS ranks.

"Now, the whole question is why would an army colonel, intelligence officer and a fake swami (godman) like Dayanand Pandey resort to this? This is a purely political objective to create fissures within RSS, spread canards about RSS leaders. It is a political objective; it has no other objective. Who is behind it, we are trying to know," he said.

Earlier on February 1, in a major breakthrough in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast probe, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a key accused, Pravin Mutalik (32), from Gokak in Karnataka's Belgaum district.

The police are still-hunting for two others in the case, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, who are believed to have been the bomb planters.

According to the ATS, Mutalik played a critical role in the criminal conspiracy hatched by the accused. Having worked as the personal secretary of Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, who was arrested in 2008. (ANI)