By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, the prime accused in the Malegaon September 29, 2008 blast case, had planned to establish a parallel, Hindu Government-in-exile which could operate from Israel and ensure a completely “Sashastra” (armed) India.
The online news website www.siasat.com has put up a news story datelined Mumbai to this effect.
According to this news story the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, (ATS) charge-sheet in the Malegaon blast case claims that as per statements from the accused the town was singled out for the blast as “it was the ideal place where the Muslim community crowd was the maximum” and that prime accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit had told fellow conspirators it was time to set up a parallel, Hindu government-in-exile which could operate from Israel and ensure a completely “Sashastra” (armed) India.
Purohit, according to the charge-sheet, promised “all logistic help” with finances from several quarters and support from some of his contacts in Thailand.
The ATS charge-sheet, which includes two important confession statements, statements of witnesses under Section 164, laptop records, telephonic records, detailed SMSes and financial transactions across states, will be filed tomorrow in the designated MCOCA court chaired by sessions judge Y D Shinde.
The ATS will tell the court how a group called Abhinav Bharat became a “front organization” for a conspiracy which led to an explosion on September 29, 2008 at Bhikku Chowk, Malegaon. While all eleven accused have been charged with conspiracy, logistics and execution of the blast, the key roles, according to the ATS, were those of Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Sudhakar Dardwivedi alias Dayanand Pandey, the news story stated.
Meanwhile, it may be stated here that this will be the first case where a probe has been able to reach the conspirators — unlike other cases where only those who planted bombs have been arrested. In this case, the alleged bomb planters — Sameer Dange, Ramji Kalsangra — and Pravin Patil, another on the wanted list, remain at large. Patil also used the cover name of Mutalik and is a close aide of Purohit.
While the forensic finding of the chassis and engine number of the motorcycle used in the blast — it was a Gujarat registration number GJ-05-1920, owned by Pragya Singh Thakur — led the ATS to Gujarat, it was the statements of witnesses and the forensic report that helped the ATS build a strong case.
The ATS charge-sheet has relied heavily on the statement of Sudhakar Chaturvedi (37), the last to be arrested, who said Purohit had called him on September 17, asking him to give the keys of his house in Deolali to a person named Pawar. According to the ATS, Pawar handed the keys to Ramji Kalsangra who along with some others used the house to assemble the bomb that was eventually used in Malegaon.