Malegaon blast case: Lt Col Purohit sent to judicial custody;
     handed over to Pune ATS  

Nashik, Nov 18: A Nashik court on Tuesday sent Malegaon blast accused Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit to judicial custody till November 29. The court also handed over Purohit’s custody to Pune Anti-Terror Squad (ATS). 

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Judicial remand of Sadhvi Pragya extended till Nov 29So far, the Maharashtra ATS had been interrogating the serving Lt Colonel, whose term of police custody expired today. 

Purohit will now be produced before a Pune court tomorrow. 

Earlier, the Nashik District and Sessions Court judge had extended Purohit’s custody by three days on Saturday, after the ATS demanded the same for further investigation. The court had however rejected an application demanding medical examination of the accused. The application was filed by Purohit's relatives, alleging he was being physically tortured in ATS custody. 

Purohit has emerged as one of the prime suspects in the Malegaon blast case. Moreover, the ATS is also investigating his possible role in other unsolved blast cases, notably the Samjhauta Express blast, Ajmer blast and the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad. 

The submission by prosecutor Ajay Misar in the court that Purohit was in possession of 60 kg of RDX while he was in the Army’s Deolali camp in 2006 and that he gave a part of it to a man called Bhagwan for use in Samjhauta Express train blast, has jolted the establishment. 

The prosecutor said Purohit was a ‘mastermind’ in Malegaon blast which took place outside a mosque and bombing of Samjhauta Express train in 2007, killing more than 68 persons, mostly Pakistanis. However, the ATS later took a U-turn and claimed that no RDX was used in the blast. 

The investigating team is also probing Purohit’s possible links with other Army officers and Hindu outfits. 

It may be noted that Lt Col Purohit was arrested in connection to a separate case – for obtaining arms license for a Pune resident using fake documents. 

The case was filed at the Sarkarwada police station by Shirish Yeshwant Date for allegedly obtaining the arms license in 2005. 

The Army officer has been booked under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471 and 474 of the IPC in the case. 
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