Purohit had prior info on right-wingers

Around three weeks before his arrest in the 2008 Malegaon blast, Lt Col Prasad Purohit had generated a secret report hinting at the involvement of right-wing extremist elements in the case.

Around three weeks before his arrest in the 2008 Malegaon blast, Lt Col Prasad Purohit had generated a secret report hinting at the involvement of right-wing extremist elements in the case.

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The report was placed on record during the Court of Inquiry (CoI) proceedings of the army into the conduct of Purohit. The report specifically hinted at the involvement of Sadhvi Pragya in the matter. Pragya was later arrested by Mahrashtra ATS. Purohit generated the report on October 14, 2008. He was arrested on November 5, 2008, by the ATS.

Now the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is investigating all cases wherein right-wing extremist elements were involved, which include both 2006 and 2008 Malegaon blasts.

The NIA has sought police custody of three 2008 case accused - Purohit, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Dayanand Pandey- to get to the bottom of the matter. The matter is pending in the Supreme Court.

But interestingly, during the proceedings it was claimed Chaturvedi, a co-accused with Purohit, was his informer on the activities of right-wing elements when he was posted in the military intelligence unit in Deolali till October 2007.

Later, he handed over Chaturvedi as source to other intelligence personnel in Deolali.

Besides, a witness deposed in the CoI said that Purohit had expressed a desire to probe the 2006 Malegaon blasts in January 2007. But his seniors told him to concentrate on other aspects of his duty. It was only after Aseemanand's arrest in November 2010 that investigating agencies confirmed the involvement of right-wing extremist elements in the 2006 blasts. Another fact that has emerged during the proceedings was that on January 16, 2008, four months after Purohit left Deolali for an Arabic course in Pachmarhi, his former unit filed a report on the activities of Abhinav Bharat, a right-wing outfit. The CoI proceedings have been concluded and the report will be submitted soon.