Joshi killed before he sang

Sunil Joshi, the RSS pracharak who was one of the main accused in the Samjhauta Express, Ajmer dargah and Mecca Masjid blasts and was mysteriously murdered later, was tired of bloodshed and wanted to surrender. Varghese K George reports. Joshi factfile

Sunil Joshi, the RSS pracharak who was one of the main accused in the Samjhauta Express, Ajmer dargah and Mecca Masjid blasts and was mysteriously murdered later, was tired of bloodshed and wanted to surrender.

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According to a senior government source, a witness told investigative agencies that Joshi had undergone a change after the Ajmer blast in October 2007 and feared for his life.

Within weeks of his expressing the desire to surrender, he was murdered on December 29, 2007. And soon after the murder, RSS workers took away his belongings from his home in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh.

Recently, the MP police arrested several RSS workers in connection with the killing of Joshi, who was the link between RSS leader Indresh Kumar and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram's Swami Aseemanand and several other players in the terror plots.

The Swami, supposed to be Joshi's mentor, advised him to stay at his ashram in Dangs district in Gujarat. After Joshi's death, the Swami told another witness that Indresh Kumar was behind the killing - a charge Kumar later rubbished.

After Joshi's murder, the Swami got a call from an unidentified number, warning him: "We are coming for you now."

Joshi was technically expelled from the RSS in 2003 after his name figured in the murder case of a Christian tribal and his son in Mhow district.

Though Joshi was an absconder, his activities continued and top RSS-BJP leaders visited him.