Lieutenant colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, may have planned other blasts too. Two other accused — Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Ajay Rahirkar, finance chief of Abhinav Bharat — said in police statements that Purohit also masterminded blasts in Orissa, Karnataka and at the Ajmer dargah in 2007.
There have been many blasts in Orissa and Karnataka in the past two years. The ones, which Purohit planned, were not mentioned in the statements, copies of which are with HT.
In April 2008, Abhinav Bharat members Bharat Ratekar and Swami Asimanand introduced Purohit to Thakur. In June, Thakur asked Purohit to contribute Rs 1.5 lakh for her ashram. “In October 2008, Purohit and Mayaram [a friend of Thakur’s] met me. I told Purohit that he had not done my work. At this, Purohit said he had done three great things for the nation by exploding bombs in Orissa, Karnataka and Malegoan,” said Thakur in her statement.
Rahirkar, Purohit’s childhood friend, said: “In January 2008, I was with Purohit, when he turned tense after receiving a call. When I asked what had happened, he said his people had bombed Ajmer”.