Reams have been written about illegality of Sadhvi Pragya’s detention and ill-Treatment of a person who technically is yet to be proven guilty (forget guilty, even a charge sheet is yet to be filed).  Her issue has been raised quite often in various forum – the torture, both physical and psychological ones – discussed in great detail.

Five years after arrest not a single case has been registered against Sadhvi Pragya but torture in custody and repeated administration of Truth Serum has nearly finished her. She had charged ATS with torture and harassment but there has been no respite. Where the heck have woman’s commission or human rights panel gone?

But what the world failed to notice was something that has been bugging me for quite a while in fact since 2008 – with Maharashtra ATS picking up a serving Army Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit,  a case no less heart rending and makes a very sorry reading. I happened to chance upon these letters written by Lt Col Purohit to Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  and Letter written to Hon’ble Home Minister Rajnath Singh and as shocked to put it mildly. It has been a litany of lies and cover-up on part of the establishment just to fix a few innocent – who cares even if it demoralizes the Services.

He was supposedly taken in only on November 5th 2008 The fact is that he was under virtual detention since 29th October 2008).  It has been proven in Court of Inquiry conducted by the Central Command of the Indian Army that Col Srivastava had illegally abducted & detained Lt Col Purohit (the Movement Order that said Lt Col to report to MI-20 in Delhi but was forced to board a flight to Mumbai)

And in his own words, what followed was a nightmare that even a captured Enemy would never be condemned to. Lt Col Purohit was subjected to 3rd Degree torture from 29th October to 4th November 2008 (this detention is nowhere on records, which makes it illegal, none of his family members were able to reach him). It is only on 4th November that he was formally recorded to be arrested.

It is not out of place to also highlight that Hemant Karkare the then Maharashtra ATS Chief was one among those who tortured Lt Col Purohit during the period of Police Custody from Nov 5th, 2008 to Nov 19, 2008.

What makes things worse – during the entire period, even Army records show him missing (From October 29th, 2008 to 4th November 2008). Despite Court of Inquiry establishing that the evidence (RDX, & Explosives) was planted by ATS personnel on 3rd November 2008 (Assistant Police Inspector Bhagde)  in Sudhakar Chaturvedi’s residence in Deolali, Nasik (this is the central piece of evidence around which the entire case is woven). Bhagde was caught in the act by Army personnel as per their deposition in the Court of Inquiry. Shockingly it was on 25th November 2008 under a Panchnama that they claimed to have discovered this evidence. Incidentally, no one took cognizance of the findings by the Court of Inquiry whose records are official and in accessible domain.

Here is an interesting tidbit – The same ATS and Maharashtra Police had invited Lt Col Purohit for training them on understanding SIMI and ISI’s modus operandi and help them plan Counter operations. Possibly it is during these operations in Kashmir and Maharashtra that Lt Col Purohit stumbled upon some inside information that may have exposed the nefarious activities of ATS. It is to cover up this fact that Lt Col is possibly implicated. Surprise of Surprises, the ATS even filed Official  ISI/SIMI presentations as part of their Charge Sheet. For an Intelligence officer of our Armed forces, this is a huge Compromise of Safety. An officer who has served 9 out of 14 years away from his family, deserves much better than this.

What makes it even more painful – 9 accused of Malegaon blasts of 2006 that claimed 37 lives and maimed over 125 (yes all with Secular names) walk scot free  because NIA chose to reject evidences filed by ATS and CBI

UPDATE – 31st July 2025

 After a 17-year-long wait, the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai announced its verdict today in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. 

The Special NIA court acquitted all seven accused, including Sadhvi Pragya, a former Member of Parliament from Bhopal and Lt Col Prasad Purohit. 

The accused have been acquitted of all charges of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Arms Act and other charges.

Special NIA court in its verdict said that the prosecution failed to prove case and the accused deserve benefit of doubt.

Seven individuals who were put on trial include Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, former BJP MP from Bhopal; Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, then serving officer in Military Intelligence; Major (Retd) Ramesh Upadhyay; Ajay Rahirkar; Sudhakar Dwivedi; Sudhakar Chaturvedi; and Sameer Kulkarni.

The blast took place on September 29, 2008, in Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in Maharashtra. The explosion occurred during the month of Ramzan and just before the festival of Navratri. It claimed six lives and left over 100 people injured.

Sadhvi Pragya was arrested in October 2008. The motorcycle used in the blast was found to be registered in her name. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had claimed she was part of a conspiracy aimed at targeting Muslim-majority areas in retaliation for previous terror attacks.

Lt Col Purohit, who was serving in the Indian Army’s military intelligence wing at the time, was accused of assisting a radical Hindu outfit named Abhinav Bharat. Investigators alleged that he facilitated meetings and helped arrange the explosives used in the attack.

The verdict was pronounced by Special Judge A K Lahoti. 

SATYAMEVA JAYATE – TRUTH PREVAILS

But Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Purohit paid a heavy price before it prevailed.