On September 29, 2008, a bomb explosion at 9:35pm opposite Shakil Goods Transport Company situated between Anjuman Chowk and Bhiku Chowk in Malegaon killed six persons and injured 101.
The Bombay high court had on April 25 granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused of plotting the September 2008 Malegaon blast, but rejected the bail plea of co-accused Purohit saying the charges against him were of grave nature.
The apex court had on April 28 rejected Purohit's plea for urgent hearing, saying the petition will come up in regular course.
Although these revelations are not directly connected to the ongoing investigations into the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid, Ajmer or Samjautha Express blasts case, investigating agencies are keen to find out more since it indicates that there was a clear split in the right-wing terror network.
Kabir was seen clinging to the tricolour-wrapped coffin of his father. He bowed before his father's body just before cremation.
The Mumbai police will be probing if Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Prasad Purohit and others arrested in connection with the Malegaon blasts had any role in the explosions in other parts of the country this year even as the hunt for two absconding accused intensified.
He said he's languishing in jail for nine years without even charges being framed against him.
An armyman, who had served with Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit in Military Intelligence, is likely to be made a prosecution witness in the Malegaon blast case as the Anti Terrorism Squad inquiring into the matter has recorded his statement.
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from Mumbai in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
'After his warm and affectionate farewell speech, the Chief of Staff of the formation asked me, "So, now you are off to Coorg to look after your coffee estates?"' For the last time, in Army uniform and much to his surprise, I replied, "Sir, I am not from Kodagu.".'
The court has asked Sadhvi Pragya Thakur to pay a surety of Rs 5 lakh and surrender her passport to the National Investigation Agency.
The hotelier from Panchmarhi, during his deposition in the court of Special NIA Judge PR Sitre, denied making any statement to the probe agencies, said special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal.
'He has terror charges against him. And for an army officer, it's just terrible.'
The witness, who worked at a hotel in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, had in his statement to the Anti-Terrorism Squad claimed that he had booked rooms for the accused in the case.
'Many BJP MLAs and ministers tell us the police does not listen to them.'
Thakur had appeared before the court in June last year after it ordered the seven accused to remain present once a week. She later sought exemption from appearance on various occasions since then.
The Malegaon blasts case has opened the proverbial can of worms. After the alleged involvement of right wing Hindu fundamentalists, the arrest of Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit on Wednesday has managed to rattle the top brass of the government and the Indian Army.Several residents of this textile town in Maharashtra are now demanding another investigation in the 2006 serial blasts, which claimed 37 lives.
The witness deposed before the special National Investigation Agency court on Tuesday.
Pragya Singh Thakur remained at the back of the courtroom during Tuesday's framing of the charges, her face serene, quite different from the fiery person one read about or saw on television. But once the day's proceedings were over and she was wheeled out, the sadhvi decided she actually was very keen to meet the media and headed right out into the melee, says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
The recent revelations made in the Army Court of Inquiry favouring Lt Colonel S P Purohit have put the National Investigating agency in a spot of bother with regard to its investigation into the involvement of right-wing terror groups in the Malegaon blasts case.
Some media reports have speculated on a possible link between Malegaon blast accused Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit and the Mecca Masjid blasts. However, the Hyderabad police maintain that they have not found any links so far. They say Purohit's remand application before the Nashik court makes no mention of the Mecca Masjid blasts.
Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad is considering pressing charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against all the nine accused in the Malegaon blast case, including Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.The ATS is investigating transfer of funds from the bank account of Lt. Col. Purohit, the first serving army officer to be arrested in the case, to Rahirkar and others for execution of the alleged conspiracy.
The Bombay high court on Friday stayed the granting of custody of three key accused in the September 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case to the National Investigation Agency.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is mulling taking Swami Aseemanand into custody in connection with its probe in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case after the agency questioned some of the accused belonging to a right wing outfit arrested for allegedly planting bombs in Malegaon in 2008.
Sadhvi Pragya had moved the court earlier this month seeking her discharge in the Malegoan bomb blast case.
Investigative agencies are finally looking at the possibility of a Hindutva terror network. Aseemanand's alleged confession and the earlier arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit have shown the trail of the Hindutva terror network, which has turned the course of investigations into the bombings of Malegaon, Samjhauta Express, Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid bomb blast cases.
Making it clear that Malegaon blast accused Colonel Srikant Purohit has no links with it, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up an independent commission to probe an alleged plot to assassinate its chief Mohan Bhagwat by the former military intelligence officer and efforts to 'malign' the image of the Sangh.
The CBI says Kalsangra, an Abhinav Bharat activist, was introduced to Gupta by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Sunil Joshi. Kalsangra's role becomes crucial since all the accused who are in custody have told their interrogators that he was the man who planted the bomb at Malegaon
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up on Monday an appeal filed by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, key accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case, challenging her prosecution under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
The Maharashtra Anti-terror Squad made a very important arrest in the Malegaon blast case late Monday night. Praveen Muthalik, who is said to be one of the executors of the blast was arrested and later remanded in police custody till February 14. He had been absconding for nearly two years.
'This is how Narendra Modi-Amit Shah rule. They are now announcing that these arrested Naxalites want to kill Modi.'
Amid reports that Pakistan may seek extradition of Malegaon blast accused Lieuteant Colonel Shrikant Purohit in the Samjhauta Express blast case, India on Tuesday virtually rejected the demand, saying Islamabad had no locus standi in the investigations involving the Army officer."The case (Malegaon blast) is under examination by the Anti-Terror Squad (of Maharashtra Police). It is our internal matter. We are investigating it. How can Pakistan be concerned with that,"he said.
The Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Sqaud investigating the Malegaon blasts case questioned Abhinav Bharat president Himani Savarkar for over three hours on Sunday. Almost all those accused arrested in connection with Malegaon blast are affiliated to the organisation, sources said. Savarkar, who has been head the outfit since April, was questioned at the ATS cell in Pune and was told that she could be summoned again if required.
The Mumbai ATS is interrogating a junior commissioned officer and two jawans of the Indian Army in connection with the Malegaon blast case, defence sources have said.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad of the Mumbai police suffered a major setback last week, when charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and nine other accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, were dropped by the special court's designated Judge Y B Shinde.Dropping MCOCA charges against the prime accused in the Malegaon blast case has definitely made the prosecution's task tougher.
As actor Shiney Ahuja faces serious charges including rape, his lawyer Shrikant Shivade fields Nithya Ramani's questions on the case.
Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan told newsmen in New Delhi that there was no political vendetta by the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad investigating the Malegoan blasts in which sadhavi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit and some others have been picked up for interrogation.
The claim by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad about presence of RDX in the 2007 Samjhauta train blast has flummoxed investigators, who probed the attack, as forensic analysis had shown no signs of the deadly explosive being used in the terror strike that left 68 people dead.
The agency has booked 23 Army personnel and civilians, including relatives of officers, for allegedly demanding bribe and facilitating bribery, they said.
'If there is effective prosecution, only then we will get justice, but first let them (NIA) run the case honestly in court.'
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