Mumbai:
A mob allegedly of Shiv Sena activists today vandalised the office of the Caravan newsmagazine, which has claimed that it was told about the alleged involvement of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS in several terror attacks by a man jailed for those attacks, Swami Aseemanand.
The RSS is the ideological mentor of the BJP, a long-time ally of the Shiv Sena. Yesterday, Sena leader Sanjay Raut had criticized the magazine saying Aseemanand's statements were twisted to defame pro-Hindu organisations.
Caravan editor Sukruti Stanley said their Mumbai office was closed after a call from the Sena warning that its "mobs" were coming. "One of our owners received a call from the Shiv Sena at its Mumbai branch. The front of the office has been closed, (in anticipation) of some sort of attack," Ms Stanley said.
Caravan has claimed that Aseemanand made a series of revelations in conversations with their reporter at the Ambala Jail in Haryana over two years. The magazine also released what it claimed are audio tapes of the meetings.
The RSS has rubbished the claims and questioned how the interviews took place in jail.
In a letter released by his lawyer today, Aseemanand denied discussing anything but "social work" with the reporter who, he said, had met him as an advocate. "The story is false and fabricated," he said.
Caravan said Aseemanand had told its report that in a meeting in Gujarat in 2005, Mohan Bhagwat, now the chief of the RSS, heard his plans "to bomb several Muslim targets around India" and said, "It is very important that it be done. But you should not link it to the Sangh."
The 63-year-old is also alleged to have mentioned that Narendra Modi had once offered him words of support at a time the BJP government at the Centre had asked the party's government in Gujarat to 'rein him in."