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Samjhauta Express blast case: No evidence found against Lt Col Purohit, says NIA chief

Purohit was accused in the Samjhauta Express blasts case and Malegaon blasts case.

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File photo of the Samjhauta Express blasts
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NIA DG Sharad Kumar has said that no evidence has been found against Lt Colonel Purohit. "He's not involved in case," said Kumar. 

The NIA chief further added, "No change has been made in the chargesheet in the Samjhauta express blast case, the inquiry is going on smoothly."

 Lt Col Prasad Purohit, one of the main accused in the Samjhauta and Malegaon blasts cases, has written to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar requesting restoration of his honour.

In his letter dated April 4, 2016, he claims he has been falsely implicated in the case and has been behind the bars for more than seven years now. "I have been robbed of honour, dignity and rank and punished for serving the nation," he said.  Purohit claimed he had infiltrated groups like SIMI and Naxals as a military intelligence operative and added that he had shared every detail of his operation with his seniors. 

AT A GLANCE
Malegaon blast case
A blast took place at Malegaon town in Maharashtra on September 29, 2008, in which six persons died and 100 were injured. 
 
Twelve persons, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Purohit, were arrested for the blast

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is not the first time that Purohit has written to Parrikar. In November 2015, he had written to him requesting copies of the Court of Inquiry against him by the army. He finally has got copies of the CoI after court intervention.

The National Investigation Agency in the year 2015 had opposed the bail application of Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegoan blast case.

AT A GLANCE
Samjhauta blasts case
Two bomb blasts occurred in the Delhi-Lahore Samjhauta Express train near Panipat on February 18, 2007 in which 68 persons were killed and 12 others were injured.   
Swami Aseemanand and Lt Col Purohit were among the key accused in the case.

 

The agency said in its reply, filed on Wednesday, that it had sufficient evidence to prove Purohit's involvement in the blasts conspiracy and to justify invocation of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against him.

Purohit, pleading innocence, has also said in his bail plea that he is behind the bars without trial for the last seven years.  Following a Supreme Court order, a special court was constituted to hear the case exclusively.

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