Abhinav Bharat is an extremist Hindu Nationalist organisation, presided over by Himani Savarkar, niece of Nathuram Godse and married to V. D. Savarkar's nephew. It appears to be a radical splinter group of the RSS and has been linked to several acts of saffron terror including the Malegaon bombings, the Mecca Masjid bombings and the Samjhauta Express bombing. Swami Aseemanand, an RSS member and functionary of Abhinav Bharat confessed, in 2010, to involvement in this terror campaign, although he later changed his story several times.
Senior army officers were members of Abhinav Bharat, notably Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit who allegedly played a central role in the terror campaign. According to Purohit, Abhinav Bharat was funded by Pravin Togadia, leader of the VHP, although Togadia denies this. According to some reports members of the group planned to kill RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat, who they felt wasn't doing enough for Hindutva. However, according to Aseemanand, the RSS leadership and Bhagwat himself approved the terror campaign.