Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's passion for motorcycles in her college days proved costly for her, as the vehicle used in the Malegaon blasts, registered in her name, led to her arrest, official sources claimed on Monday.
The arrest of the sadhvi, a resident of Lahar town in Bhind district, in the Malegaon blast case shocked people in the area who knew her as "the girl with boyish looks".
Her classmates recalled her as a straight-forward person who always stood for national and hindutva issues.
An active member of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad since her college days, Pragya was known for her oratorical skills and raising issues related to Hindutva, apart from her passion for motorcycles, sources said.
As an ABVP leader, she was popular for her speeches and went on to become a known figure in the party circles even outside Bhind district.
After gaining popularity in the state as a prominent ABVP activist, she left the student wing to become a 'sanyasin' and started delivering religious discourses.
Thakur later shifted her base from Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat and settled in Surat, sources said.
{{/usCountry}}Thakur later shifted her base from Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat and settled in Surat, sources said.
{{/usCountry}}Her father, CP Singh Thakur, a doctor running a clinic in Lahar town, was an office bearer of RSS.
Pragya's family has properties in Lahar, Bhind Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhay Singh told