Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Srikanth Purohit, who was acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, has been promoted to the post of Colonel after a long legal battle. The priest was among the seven accused who were acquitted by the special NIA court on 31 July. The court had said in its judgment that only suspicion could not replace the evidence and also believed that there is no reliable and concrete evidence beyond doubt.
In fact, on 29 September 2008, an explosive tied to a motorcycle torn near the mosque in Malegaon town of Nashik district of Maharashtra. Six people were killed and more than 100 were injured in this blast. Former BJP MPs Pragya Thakur, Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahir, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni were arrested in this case.
Purohit’s arrest was the first arrest of an officer of the Indian Army in a terrorist case. This case was quite disputed, because during this period the word Hindu Terror had become a part of general discussion.
After acquitting, Purohit claimed that the word Hindu Terror was used by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar about a month before the explosion, indicating that the alleged native was already being coined.
He also alleged that while in custody, the investigating officers pressurized him to name Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other right -wing leaders in this case.
Purohit’s legal team said that he was an officer of Military Intelligence, who had infiltrated terrorist organizations and collected information and sent regular reports to his senior officials. His team also pointed towards the contradiction and process related flaws in the statements of the witnesses.
BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh also congratulated Purohit. He wrote on X (East Twitter), “Happy return to Colonel Purohit to the uniform. The government stands firmly with the patriots who serve the country with courage and honesty.”
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