Malegaon blast case: Mumbai court rejects Col Purohit's bail plea

A special court in Mumbai on Monday rejected bail application of Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit - an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Earlier, while filing for bail, Purohit had claimed that Abhinav Bharat Trust, that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed was used to procure the weapons and explosives used for the blast, was formed keeping senior army officers in the loop and was to be registered as a political party.

The chargesheet filed by the NIA this year had said that Purohit flouted the service rules by forming the outfit in 2006, despite being an army man. The investigating agency said Purohit and the other accused collected funds for the outfit, which were then used to buy weapons.

In his bail plea, Purohit had reportedly said that he was acting in discharge of his duty to gather more intelligence.

"The circumstances show Abhinav Bharat was to become a political party and even a registration form for the same was found through the sources of the accused," reads the bail plea.

Earlier, in September last year, advocate Shrikant Shivde representing Purohit had approached the court seeking in-camera proceedings during the bail application filed by him. He had contended that there was fear of proceedings being 'misrepresented' or 'quoted out of context'. The NIA did not object to the application.

The state ATS had chargesheeted 12 alleged 'Hindu extremists', including Lt. Col. Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, in the case.