Malegaon blast case: Mumbai court refuses to send accused Prasad Purohit in Indian Army's custody

Mumbai: A Mumbai court on Friday dismissed the plea of Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, to hand over his custody to the Indian Army. [caption id=“attachment_3841841” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “The court dismissed Purohit’s application,” said special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal. An Army officer arrested in the case, Purohit is presently lodged in the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. 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 SD Tekale for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases rejected Purohit’s request. Six people were killed and nearly 100 injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in the handloom town of Malegaon in Nashik district of Maharashtra on 29 September, 2008. Twelve people, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh and Purohit, were arrested in the case. The NIA has, however, given a clean chit to Pragya Singh who is now out on bail.