Togadia denies links to Malegaon suspect

Monday, November 24, 2008 at 11:11 am

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Leader Praveen Togadia today (Nov 24) denied any links with Malegaon blast suspect Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit. Speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW he said, “I do not have any link with Malegaon blast suspect and have not provide any funds to the Abhinav Bharat.”

He added, “These allegations are however, defamatory and are baseless.”

Earlier, Mumbai ATS sources had claimed that Lt Colonel Purohit confessed that the VHP General Secretary was involved in the Malegaon blasts and had in fact funded Abhinav Bharat. Purohit is understood to have informed investigators of Praveen Togadia’s role in the Malegaon blasts.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena rubbished reports that their party is offering a ticket to Lt Col Prasad Purohit — the first serving army officer to be arrested in Malegaon blast case.

Blast accused to be produced in MCOCA court

Meanwhile, blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Srikant Prasad Purohit and seven others will be produced before a MCOCA court in Mumbai on Monday (Nov 24). The Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), which is investigating the case, had last week invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the nine accused.

On Friday (Nov 21), when Sudhakar Chaturvedi – an accused in the case – was produced before the MCOCA court, Special Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian had filed an application for producing the nine accused, who are currently on judicial remand.

The court sent Chaturvedi, who is a member of Hindu radical outfit Abhinav Bharat, to police remand till December 03. MCOCA Judge YD Shinde had also issued production warrants against Pragya, Purohit, Shamlal Sahu, Shivnarayan Singh, Ajay Rahirkar, Jagdish Mahtre, Rakesh Dhawade, Sameer Kulkarni and ex-Army man Ramesh Upadhyay.

On September 29, six people were killed and several others injured in the bomb blast in Malegaon. ATS arrested Sadhvi Pragya on October 23 along with two of her associates Sahu and Singh. It followed up on the investigation with other arrests. At present, 11 persons are under arrest in connection with the case, including self-styled Swami Dayanand Pandey.

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Togadia denies links to Malegaon suspect

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