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The larger question should certainly be asked of the Army
Tehelka was the first to publish excerpts of Col Purohit's conversations with army officials and those accused in the Malegaon blasts case in 2009-2010
Rana Ayyub
New Delhi
Reports of conflicting findings in the role of Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit’s involvement in the Malegaon blasts, as compared to the ones made by the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) have put the army in the dock once again. Tehelka was the first to publish excerpts of Lt Col Purohit’s conversations in 2009 with army officials and those accused in the Malegaon blasts case, and later his incriminating tapes in 2010, questioning not just the role of the army but also the investigating agency. The ATS officials investigating the case had indicated to Tehelka that there was stonewalling by the army in the questioning of the other senior officials who were a part of the taped conversations. When Tehelka had met Col Purohit and his wife during a court hearing, he had maintained that all answers be sought from the army, that he was arrested in the line of duty.
While the reports now being published indicate that Col Purohit could have just been doing his job as an intelligence official by infiltrating the Abhinav Bharat and other organisations like SIMI, it cannot be denied that Purohit's right wing leanings as confessed by him went on to play a major role in the conspiracy and execution of the Malegaon blasts. The nervousness of the army is palpable because of many reasons. The names that figure in the taped transcripts published by Tehelka are of senior army officials. Why were none of the army officials taken into custody? In fact, many of Purohit’s seniors told Tehelka that they felt that although he could have played a role, it indeed looked like he was being made a scapegoat. Analysts had further gone to the extent of saying that there was absolutely no possibility of Lt Col Purohit siphoning off RDX without the knowledge of senior officials who he worked for. If the emerging reports put a question on the investigation, the larger question should certainly be asked of the army.
Rana Ayyub is an Assistant Editor with Tehelka.
rana@tehelka.com
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