Lt Col Shrikant Purohit booked for planning 2008 Malegaon blasts in Mumbai
While the NIA charge sheet says Purohit was instrumental in setting up a Hindu extremist group, it raises doubts about the traces of RDX picked up from Chaturvedi's house in Maharashtra.
The National Investigation Agency has charged Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit for being a part of the 2008 Malegaon blasts conspiracy but has questioned Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad's RDX theory suggesting that bombs were prepared in the house of Sudhakar Chaturvedi, who was a close source of Purohit.
While the NIA charge sheet says Purohit was instrumental in setting up Abhinav Bharat, a Hindu extremist group, it raises doubts about the traces of RDX picked up from Chaturvedi's house in Devlali, Maharashtra.
The charge sheet mentions the testimonies of two Army officers who claim ATS Assistant Police Inspector Bagade was caught planting RDX in Chaturvedi's house, who also has also been charged for the conspiracy.
NIA officials said the two Army officers, who made this revelation to the Army Court of Inquiry were also examined by the agency. "They confirmed the same to us and this finds mention in the charge sheet since it calls into question the swab samples taken from the house that confirmed RDX traces," a senior NIA officer told Mail Today.
Refuting the theory that RDX stolen from the Army was used in the blasts, the NIA said the Army has given a breakup of about 70 kg of RDX.
The Army has accounted for it by way of controlled destruction or handing over to J&K Police, the NIA said.
However, the NIA believes there is strong material evidence to establish Purohit's role and this will not make things easy for him during the trial. "He will find it difficult to come out of it," an officer privy to the evidence said.
Cases of Hindu terror that were probed during the UPA government's tenure have stirred a debate with BJP accusing Congress of framing innocent and politicising terror.
According to the NIA charge sheet, phone intercepts between Purohit and Sudhakar Dhar Dwevedi reveal that the group was planning attacks against Muslims in Malegaon.
The claim is backed by forensic evidence confirming that the voices samples belong to Purohit and Dwivedi, who was Shankracharya of (head priest) of a high-profile Hindu religious establishment in Jammu & Kashmir.
While giving a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and dropping all charges against her and five others in the Malegaon bomb blasts case, the NIA says Purohit had organised several meetings with the other accused and had collected money for procuring weapons and explosives for their unlawful activities.
The stringent MCOCA law has been dropped in the case but 10 accused, including Purohit are charged under terror law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and other Sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Also read:
Malegaon blast: NIA gives clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya, waters down case against Col Purohit