A Hindu religious leader has confessed that he was involved in several bombings, including that of the India-Pakistan Samjhauta Express train in 2007, in which 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, were killed, a media report said Friday. Swami Aseemanand, a leader of the Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is closely associated with India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, was arrested in November.
Aseemanand, in a confession before a judicial magistrate, said he and other RSS activists were involved in blasts on the Samjhauta Express; at mosques in Malegaon in Maharashtra state and Andhra Pradesh's state capital, Hyderabad; and a Muslim shrine in Ajmer in Rajasthan, according to the latest issue of Tehelka weekly magazine. Aseemanand in his confession, which Tahelka said it obtained, reportedly said the bombings were in retaliation for Muslim militants attacking Hindu temples.