The police have arrested 12 accused in the case so far and two more — Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, suspected planters — are absconding.
In a major catch in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, sleuths of the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Monday arrested Pravin Venkatesh Takalki alias Pravin Mutallik, 32, from Karnataka. Mutallik, one of the three absconding accused, had escaped the police by a whisker a fortnight ago.
A diploma holder in mechanical engineering, Mutallik was running a SIM card distribution agency at Gokak in Belgaum district of Karnataka. The police have arrested 12 accused in the case so far and two more — Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, suspected planters — are absconding.
“Three months ago, we had received specific information that Takalki is actually Mutallik and is in hiding in Gokak. He was picked up from his shop on Monday night,” said additional director-general of police, ATS, Rakesh Maria. Mutallik was produced before the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Tuesday and has been remanded in police custody till February 14.
Maria said Mutallik was an integral part of the conspiracy. “He is an important member of Abhinav Bharat. He was acting as personal secretary to Lt Colonel Shrikant Purohit. On September 22, he took the keys of the residence of Sudhakar Chaturvedi in Nashik at the behest of Purohit. Investigations earlier had revealed that forensic swabs taken from the room and the blast site matched. Both had indicated the use of RDX.”
Mutallik had attended conspiracy meetings in Panchmadi, Pune and Nashik in 2008. “He has been with the Abhinav Bharat since 2008 and his name is there in the charge sheet and the confessional statements given by the arrested accused in the case,” Maria said. He clarified that Mutallik had no links with Pramod Mutallik of the Shri Ram Sene.
Deputy commissioner of police, Pradeep Sawant said, “We need to know what transpired between September 22-29 in the room where explosives were kept. Since Mutallik was secretary to Purohit, we would grill him.” In the September 2008 blast at Bhikku Chowk in Malegaon, six persons were killed and 101 injured.
The ATS took over the investigations on November 18, 2008. In August 2010, the MCOCA court had issued a proclamation against these wanted accused.
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