After Sadhvi and Lt Col Purohit, Upadhyay came out of the jail after nine years after he was granted bail by the Bombay High Court
"We attended the meetings of Abhinav Bharat not to conspire any criminal activity but to awaken people for nation building," this is what retired army officer and accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast major Ramesh Upadhhyay had to say after coming out of jail on bail. Upadhyay blamed Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) claiming that he and others were falsely implicated by the ATS.
Upadhyay the 66 year old retired army officer is accused along with Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and eight others in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast. After Sadhvi and Lt Col Purohit, Upadhyay came out of the jail after nine years after he was granted bail by the Bombay High Court. After coming to Pune, Upadhyay spoke to DNA about the case.
When he was asked that the ATS in the chargesheet mentioned that Upadhyay along with other arrested persons attended meetings of Abhinav Bharat organisations where the conspiracy of the blast was hatched, he said, "Abhinav Bharat is more than 100 year old organisation. It is not a banned organisation where attending its meeting would be considered as criminal activity."
"Forget about Malegaon blast, we did not conspire any criminal activity during any of those meetings. We also kept records of all those meetings and ATS used those records to slap terror charges against us. If we were conspiring criminal activity, why would have we kept the records of the meetings," he added.
Justifying his attendance for those meetings, Upadhyay claimed that they were discussing issues related to national development. "We would discuss various issues of national interest such as fighting against casteism. We were trying to awaken people to remove obstacles which come in a way of nation's development," Upadhyay said.
Upadhyay was picked up by the team of Maharashtra ATS from Pune on October 24, 2008. "I was on a way for a morning walk with my wife when the team of ATS came and picked me up. They did not even bother to make an entry in local police station before taking me with them," he said.
Upadhhyay alleged that he along with other accused were physically and mentally tortured by the ATS. "They (ATS officials) tried all the measures to torture us mentally and physically. They wanted us to confess the crime which we never committed. I have undergone a nacro test not once but twice and in those tests also ATS found nothing," he claimed.
When Upadhyay was asked about his future plans as far as the case and his personal life is considered, he said, "Since the case is still going on in the court, it will not be appropriate to comment on the case. As far as my personal life is considered, I have lost nine years of my family life. I will have to start rebuilding my life with my family members who have also suffered a lot."
"One thing is sure, henceforth I will be living my life in front of the eyes of the judiciary, police and constant gaze of the media," he said.
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 "Ramesh Upadhhyay")
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