Malegaon Blast Accused Lt Col Purohit Reports to His Army Unit

Purohit is likely to return to his unit in Pune, where he was working before his arrest in the Malegaon blast case.

Shrikant Lt Col Purohit.

(Photo Courtesy: Outlook Magazine)

Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit reported back to an army unit in Mumbai on 23 August, after he walked out of Navi Mumbai’s Taloja Central Prison where he had been lodged for nine years as an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Army sources said he reported to the liasoning unit of the Army’s Southern Command in Mumbai and is currently staying at an army establishment in the city.

They said that Purohit, an officer from intelligence corp, is likely to go to his unit in Pune, where he was working before his arrest in the Malegaon blast case in late 2008. PTI sources said the Army headquarters will review his suspension from service after examining the court order.

During his stay in his unit, Purohit will be under various restrictions including his movement inside the unit.

On 22 August, a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the 2008 case, Purohit said he wanted to rejoin the Army as soon as possible.

“I want to wear my uniform. It is the outermost layer of my skin. I am wedded to it. I am very happy to get back into the service of the best organisation in the country if not the world, the Indian army,” he told reporters outside a sessions court in Mumbai .

On 23 August, police teams and army vehicles were seen outside Mumbai’s Taloja jail where Purohit was lodged.

Army vehicles escort Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit after his release.

Lt Col Purohit after his release on Wednesday.

I have two families – the Army and my family which includes my wife, my two sons, sister and mother. I cannot wait to return to them.

The Army didn't “let me down”, said Purohit. “It's been the tradition and ethos of the Army not to let down its men,” he said, adding, “I never even once felt that I was out of the Army.”

He praised his wife for helping him in his legal fight.

Asked if he will seek action against the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad for allegedly “planting (explosive) RDX on him”, Purohit said he was part of an institution, and if those claims were true, his “seniors” (in the Army) will deal with the matter.

“I am too small a fry to fight this,” he said.

Asked if he blamed anybody for his plight, the officer said no one was to blame but his “destiny”. “The Army is the only institution in the country which is not shaken by the ripples of what is happening in the society,” he said.

The apex court hgranted bail to Purohit, who has been in jail for almost nine years for his alleged role in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Six people were killed in a bomb blast on 29 September, 2008 at Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in Nashik district of north Maharashtra.

The apex court said there were “material contradictions” in the charge sheets filed by the ATS and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which were required to be tested at the time of trial.

(With inputs from PTI.)

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