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Our ministers and MPs at work New Delhi/Lucknow, November 11 "There is a dangerous conspiracy afoot to label the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a terrorist organisation and give a charitable name to Muslim outfits," the MP from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur constituency told reporters in Lucknow. “I dare the police to arrest me and I will offer no help in their probe,” he added, amid reports that he was likely to be questioned in connection with the Sep 29 Malegaon blasts in which five people were killed. Adityanath, 36, advised the ATS not to act on instructions from others and also questioned why narco-tests were being conducted on Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon bombing, when it was not done with Islamic militants accused in previous bombings. His comments came after the ATS Monday filed an application in a Mumbai court seeking permission to interrogate a “high profile leader” and obtain cooperation from the Uttar Pradesh government in doing so. Though declining to name the leader, the ATS has discreetly conducted operations in Farrukhabad and eastern Uttar Pradesh and found vital leads to the Malegaon bombing. Investigations into the Malegaon attack have been constantly throwing up new leads since Lt Col P.S. Purohit, a serving officer of the Indian Army, was arrested Nov 5. Some of these leads have led to Adityanath, officials said. Probe officials said Purohit had allegedly diverted money from funds meant for operational purposes of military intelligence to setting up Abhinav Bharat, the little known rightwing Hindu outfit gradually emerging as the fount of all activities. Eight people have been picked up by the ATS for their alleged involvement in the terror attack in Malegaon, about 280 km from Mumbai. Besides Purohit, the other accused include Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Shivnarayan Singh Kalsangram, Shyam Bhawarlal Sahu, Major Ramesh Shivji Upadhyay (retd), Sameer Kulkarni, Rakesh Dattaram Dhavde and Ajay Rahirkar. The surprise arrests have indicated a change of course for police, who had blamed Muslim activists for a wave of bombings that have killed more than 145 people across the country since May. Adityanath, who is unapologetic about his strident brand of Hindutva politics, is widely held as responsible for the BJP’s foothold in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Known for his Hindu awakening rallies, Adityanath has also sought to justify the attack on churches in Orissa. — IANS
Dewas (MP), November 11 Along with Pawar, who is the BJP candidate from Dewas and the erstwhile royal scion of Dewas, another ruling party nominee from Sonkatch Phool Chand Verma was also arrested and jailed in connection with the incident last Saturday. The arrests came a day after sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Sanjana Jain, returning officer for Sonkatch, lodged a complaint against them for obstructing official work and threatening her following a dispute over a poll-related issue. Both Pawar and Verma were later produced in the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Jasveer Kaur Sasan who sent them to judicial remand till November 24 after the two leaders refused to apply for bail, official sources said. The Dewas police on Monday booked both Pawar and Verma under Sections 353 and 504 of the IPC following the complaint. The case arose when Pawar along with Verma had gone to meet Jain to complain that the Congress nominee from the Sonkatch, Sajjan Singh Verma had not filed his 'A' and 'B' poll form in time. The two BJP men later had a heated argument with her on the issue and were seen on camera throwing a paper and banging the official's table. The administration has a video recording of the meeting between following which action was taken against the minister and his party colleague. The Election Commission, meanwhile, ordered the transfer of Dewas collector following laxity on his part in sending a report on the incident. Jain also came in for praise from the commission for performing her poll duties without any fear or favour and will be getting a letter of appreciation, official sources said. Section 353 of IPC relates to assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty while 504 deals with intentional insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace. Following the EC order, the state government on Monday appointed Sanjay Shukla in place of Navneet Kothari as the new collector of Dewas, official sources said. Besides, the EC also ordered the transfer of Datia collector as he was not well and replaced him with Pradeep Khare as the new collector, the sources added. Pawar claimed he was forced to speak loudly on the day of the incident as Congress workers were creating a ruckus and that he has not violated any model code of conduct. — Agencies
Army ban on Purohit
New Delhi, November 11 The ban, a routine order which came the day the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) took him into custody for questioning, would be enforced till the time the probe is completed and a report, either indicting Purohit or exonerating him in the case, is submitted, Army sources said here today. Till the time a competent court of law acquits him in the case, the ban would continue, but Purohit would be entitled to his emoluments and also retain official accommodation till then. Purohit, a military intelligence officer, was last studying a couple of foreign languages in the Army Education Corps school at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, from where he was sent into ATS custody by the Army for questioning with
regard to his alleged role in the September 29 Malegaon blasts that claimed about half-a-dozen Muslim lives. Meanwhile, as announced by defence minister A.K. Antony recently, the Army also began an internal scrutiny of Purohit’s service to determine if the record matched with unsolved incidents that may come to light and if he misused his military postings to help the main accused in the Malegaon case, sources said. The service record was being checked to see if any arms, ammunition or explosives went missing or were stolen at a unit when he was posted there, sources added. Also, the army was questioning his colleagues, who served alongside him at different postings as a Liaison Unit (LU) officer, including at Nashik. In particular, the army was interested in finding out when and where Purohit came in contact with one of the accused retired Major Ramesh Upadhyaya, in the case, the sources said. The army, in a departure from tradition, was also scrutinising Purohit’s leave schedules during his service and has shared the leave records with the ATS, the sources added.
— PTI
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