In a shocking letter that has gone public, Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit has alleged that he was tortured in the custody of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
Purohit, who is one of the main accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case had written a 24-page letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in December 2013. He alleged that he was beaten and threatened to confess to a crime he never committed. He also says he was held in illegal detention.
In the letter, which has now become public, Purohit named six officers who tortured him. His claim was investigated by the human rights panel, including interviews with the six accused.
In August 2017, Purohit was granted bail after a case in the Supreme Court, where he said he was languishing in jail for nine years due to a political crossfire. Earlier his bail application was rejected by the Bombay High Court.
Malegaon Blast
On September 29, 2008, a blast in Malegaon, a city in northern Nashik killed six and injured 101 people. The blast was a result of an improvised explosive device that was attached to a motorcycle.
In November that year, the ATS arrested 11 people in connection with the case.
In April 2011, the investigation was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Purohit, along with several others were sentenced under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and NIA Act. The High Court however later changed its verdict, saying that the ATS had wrongly charged the accused under the MCOCA Act. but agreed that they should be charged under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
A special NIA Court ruled that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and six others accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast will stand trial on stringent terror charges. They are due to face trial under sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (conspiring for and committing/organising a terror act) and under the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and causing hurt besides charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act.
Others accused in the case include Thakur, Purohit, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Major (rtd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Ajay Rahirkar.
[With inputs from ANI]
