SS pracharak Swami Aseemanand's confession on 18 December 2010 about his role in five serial blasts targeting Muslims across the country closely matches the chargesheet filed by the Anti Terror Squad of the Rajasthan police two months earlier, on 20 October 2010 against Devender Gupta, Chandrashekhar Levy and Lokesh Sharma in the Ajmer blast case. Aseemanand was still on the run at the time.

The similarities raise questions about the confession recorded by the CBI before Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Dabas on 18 December 2010. Aseemanand was arrested by the CBI on 19 November 2010, a month after the Gupta-Levy-Sharma (GLS) chargesheet had been filed.

This correspondent has translated relevant extracts from the Aseemanand confession and corresponding paragraphs from the GLS chargesheet, taking care to follow the Hindi text as closely as possible.

According to the chargesheet, the main accused, Sunil Joshi, who is now dead, called Aseemanand on the phone to inform him about the Ajmer blast, but could not get through and so spoke to Bharat Bhai and requested him to inform Aseemanand. In the confession Aseemanand first says that Joshi called him directly, but then there is a clarification added in writing in English, to the confession report, that says that it was Bharat Bhai who called Aseemanand. This was clearly to marry the two documents. Bharat Bhai is, thus, identified as a key witness in both the documents.

The GLS chargesheet states, in Para 5.45: On 11 October, 2007 after the Ajmer Dargah blast, Sunil telephoned Bharat Bhai, a resident of Balasore (Gujarat) on his mobile to inform him about the blast. In Para 5.46 it says that Sunil Joshi asked Bharat Bhai to switch on the TV and watch the news about the Ajmer blast that was being reported. He said that Swami Aseemanand's mobile had been switched off, and requested Bharat Bhai to inform Aseemanand about the blast.

Aseemanand's confession states, on page 31, that after about two or three months Sunil called him again. This has been "clarified" to state that it was Bharat Bhai who had called him to say Sunil was trying to get in touch on the mobile, but had been unable to do so, but would come and meet him in a day or two.

Colonel Shrikant Purohit, a key accused in the Malegaon blast case in 2008 appears suddenly in both the chargesheet and the confession report. There is no explanation as to how he was linked with Aseemanand or where they met, with even mobile telephone records not attached. The information in the chargesheet about this link, is carried in the confession in almost the same words, without any background of this relationship.

The GLS chargesheet states, in para 3.9: Parhlad Singh Meena, then Additional SP, Special Operations Group, had interrogated Srikant Purohit and Sudhakar Diwedi alias Swami Dayanand Pandey. Col. Purohit had confessed that on 29 December 2007 that Swami Aseemanand had called him to say that in Devdas, Madhya Pradesh, an important and dedicated activist Sunil Joshi was killed. Joshi, it says, was behind the Ajmer blast so there was a need to find who were his killers.

Aseemanand's confession states, on page 34, that Bharat Bhai had called him to say that Sunil Joshi was killed. On the same day, it says, he called Col. Purohit and informed him that Sunil who was involved in the Ajmer blast had been killed. I told Col. Purohit that since he was in intelligence, he should find out who was behind Sunil's murder. Col. Purohit said that he [Sunil] was earlier involved in a murder case and as such had become the victim of a revenge killing.

The biggest attack by this group was on the Samjhauta Express on 19 February 2007, in which 68 persons were killed. The same approach is visible in both the chargesheet and the confession; both are confined to generalities and not specifics of the terror plot. There is no extra information in either document.

The GLS chargesheet states, in para 5.57: "It is important to note that on 19 February 2007, a bomb blast took place in Samjhauta Express at Diwan near Panipat Railways station. From the evidence collected and method of explosion, it gives rise to suspicion that the same terrorist group was involved. Examination of explosive materials recovered from the train reveals all ingredients for making bombs were procured from Indore, the city from where most of the accused belonged."

Aseemanand's confession states on page 30: "I went to Bharat Bhai's house where Pragya and Sunil were already present. By this time Samjhauta Express blast case had already appeared in the newspapers. I asked Sunil where he was when Samjhauta Express incident took place. He said it was done by our men. But I told him that it is the handiwork of ISI, Pakistan. Sunil said, why would Muslims kill Muslims? I said in Pakistan it was happening every day. Sunil did not say anything further."

Again, the chargesheet carries details of the role of two accused, Sunil Joshi and Sandeep Dang, in the Ajmer blast case despite the fact that Sunil was never arrested and died on the run, and Dang is still absconding. The main players were not in police custody at any point in time, and only they could have known the specific details. Aseemanand's confession, two months after the chargesheet, seems to be carefully worded to corroborate the GLS chargesheet.

The GLS chargesheet states in para 5.50: "Sunil Joshi divided the work among his colleagues to carry out the bomb blast conspiracy and gave each of them specific tasks to carry it out." It continues, in para 5.51, to say that Sandeep Dang and Ramji Kalsaranga were given the task of procuring explosives and assembling bombs for the Dargah blast.

Aseemanand's confession states on Pages 27 and 28: "Sunil said there should be three groups to carry out the bomb blast. One group would provide financial help and make necessary arrangements, the second would procure materials for the bombs and third would keep it. Sunil also said it will be better for the three groups if they were ignorant about each other. Aseemanand took responsibility for coordinating with all three groups. During the meeting I was assigned the task of arranging finances and hideouts. Sandeep (Dang) was assigned the job of manufacturing the bomb."

Aseemanand, according to his confession, played a key role in the serial blasts in Malegaon (2006), Ajmer (2007), Samjhauta Express (2007), Ajmer (2007) and Malegaon (2008). Aseemanand is currently in the custody of the National Investigation Authority.