Court refuses to send Purohit in Army's custody

A Mumbai court today dismissed the plea of Lt Col Prasad Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, to hand over his custody to the Army.
"The court dismissed Purohit's application," said Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal.
An Army officer arrested in the case, Purohit is presently lodged in Arthur Road jail here.
He had said in his application that the jail houses several gangsters and there was a threat to his life, so he should be transferred to "military jail."
The prosecution, however, opposed his plea. Advocate Rasal told the court that Purohit had not filed any such complaint with the jail authorities who were taking sufficient care of him.

If his custody was handed over to the Army, it would be difficult to bring him to the court for every hearing and it would delay the trial, Rasal argued.

Concurring with the prosecution views, Special Judge S D Tekale for NIA cases rejected Purohit's request.
Six people were killed and nearly 100 injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in handloom town of Malegaon in Nashik district of Maharashtra on September 29, 2008.
Twelve people, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh and Purohit, were arrested in the case.
The National Investigation Agency has, however, given a clean chit to Pragya Singh who is now out on bail.