Wednesday, January 21, 2009

 

Purohit was in touch with Nepal king for a separate state

Add to Technorati Favorites

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/15/200901212009012103263539076ef3826/Purohit-was-in-touch-with-Nepal-king-for-a-separate-state

Purohit was in touch with Nepal king for a separate state

By Hetal Vyas, Deeptiman Tiwary and Anand Holla
Posted On Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 03:26:35 AM
     

The ATS chargesheet against 11 members of Abhinav Bharat, arrested in the September 2008 Malegaon blast, speaks of their lack of faith in the Indian Constitution and intention to create a separate state. But surprisingly, the ATS has not charged the suspects for waging war against the nation. 

The bulky 4000-plus pages chargesheet gives a detailed view of the role played by suspended Armyman Lt Col. Prasad Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Rakesh Dhawde etc. and their intentions to create a separate constitution, national flag. The ATS also claimed that the leaders were in touch with Maoists in Nepal and were ready to get in touch with Israelis if the need arose.

The transcripts retrieved from Pandey’s laptop also speaks of the group’s plan to seek help from ousted Nepal monarch King Gyanendra. In his conversation with other accused, Purohit has in detail explained how he held meetings with King Gyanendra and how the deposed monarch had accepted a proposal to train Purohit’s men. In a recorded conversation, Purohit also claims that he had asked the king to procure AK-47s from the Czech republic, for which he was ready to pay.

The act of the prosecution of not applying section 121 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), waging war against the nation is more surprising, as the ATS, itself has claimed that the accused did not have faith in the Indian constitution and they even planned to take the help of Israel and groups from Nepal, if need be, to take their conspiracy further. More so, these charges have been applied on the accused in the train blasts cases, the 26/11 case and also on the members of the Indian Mujahideen. 

The charge sheet explains eighteen various charges ranging from murder of seven persons, who were killed in the blasts and an offence of attempt to murder for 90-plus grievously injured. It also speaks about criminal conspiracy, provisions of MCOCA, arms and explosive acts for using RDX and other ammunitions to carry out blasts is tight-lipped over waging war. 

ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi says the cops know some leaders were in 
regular touch with Maoists in Nepal, but are not sure if they had sought help from them in their endeavour

"We have evaluated all evidences and the charges have been filed on the basis of the evidence available with us," said ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi. 

The chargesheet says that Purohit took responsibility of providing explosives and Pragya Thakur took responsibility for providing men for explosion. It also says that Purohit had generated about Rs. 21 lakh to carry out the blast conspiracy and had also planned to create a separate constitution of India way back in 2007. 

"Prasad Purohit in 2007 floated Abhinav Bharat with an intention to propagate a separate Hindu Rashtra with their own constitution, aims and objects as Bharat Swarajya, Surajya and Suraksha in its preamble," says the chargesheet.

It further says that Purohit wanted to adopt a National Flag ie. Solo themed saffron flag having golden ancient torch in the middle. 

The chargesheet also includes certain transcripts of conversations between Purohit, Dayanand Pandey and Ramesh Upadhyay, which has details about their men visiting Isreal and also been in touch with Nepal based Maoists.

Excerpts from the transcripts of a conversation that the police claim was retrieved from Swami Dayanand Pande's laptop

Purohit: I have contacted Israel. One of our captains have been to Israel...very positive response from their side. They have asked us to show them something on the ground. 

Our website had not been launched yet. We just gave them on paper...they asked us to wait and watch for six months.

We had asked for four things...continuous and uninterrupted supply of equipment and training. second thing allow us to start out office with saffron flag in Tel Aviv. 

Sources said that Lt Col Purohit (above) was in touch with Israeli authorities in India and had even sent a representative along with a letter soliciting Israeli support

Number three...political asylum. Number four support our cause in UN that Hindu nation is born.

They have accepted two things. They don't want to fly our national flag in Tel Aviv saying they don't want to spoil their relations with India. Also they are saying that they cannot support us on international forum for two years.

Purohit: Let me also tell you our meeting had been fixed with King Gyanendra  (of Nepal) on June 24, 2006 and then in 2007...the King had accepted the proposal...20 people from my side will train as officers there every six months...I'll get 40 persons every year and 200 persons will train as jawan...I'll get 400 soldiers. You being an independent nation, ask for Aks from Czekoslovakia, we will pay the money and the ammunition. The king has accepted..

Purohit again talks of a meeting in which relatives of King Gyanendra participated. There is also a reference of Queen Aishwarya, King Gyanendra's wife.

4,500-page charge sheet in Malegaon case

By Mumbai Mirror Bureau
Posted On Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 02:43:02 AM
     

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), on Tuesday, filed a mammoth 4,500-page charge sheet against 11 accused, including a serving army official and a sadhvi, in the sensational September 29, 2008 blast at Malegaon, which claimed seven lives and left over a 100 injured.

Special MCOCA judge Y D Shinde allowed the prosecution to file the charge sheet, but reserved order on taking cognisance of the same, as all 11 accused refused to accept the sections levied against them under the stringent MCOCA. 

“The application of MCOCA has been done in haste. The court should first evaluate if the application of the provision of MCOCA against the accused is appropriate and only then take cognisance of the charge sheet,” argued defence counsel Shrikant Shivade and Mahesh Jethmalani, representing col Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Thakur respectively.

Advocate Subhash Jadhav, defending one of the main accused, Rakesh Dhawade, argued that, “the whole case has been made up in an incorrect manner. MCOCA will be applicable only when there are two charge sheets filed and the competent court before whom the charge sheets are filed takes cognizance of it.”

According to Jadhav, the Nanded and Parbhani court has not yet taken cognisance of the alleged crime against him on which the prosecution has invoked MCOCA. 

Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian argued that the provisions of MCOCA had been applied correctly and the court could take cognisance of the charge sheet. The charge sheet filed against the 11 accused include charges against them under sections of the MCOCA, IPC, UAPA, Arms and explosive acts. 

A bomb strapped to a motorcycle had exploded in Bhiku Chowk area of Malegaon on September 29 last year, killing seven and injuring more than 70. The ATS probe revealed the involvement of members of right wing organisation ‘Abhinav Bharat’. 

The ATS invoked MCOCA against the accused who are presently in judicial custody. MCOCA was implemented on November 21.Investigations in the case are not yet over despite the filing of the charge sheet, with the ATS still on the lookout for at least three persons who allegedly planted the bomb.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/20090121200901210243026407e9dd58/4500page-charge-sheet-in-Malegaon-case

4,500-page charge sheet in Malegaon case

By Mumbai Mirror Bureau
Posted On Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 02:43:02 AM
     

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), on Tuesday, filed a mammoth 4,500-page charge sheet against 11 accused, including a serving army official and a sadhvi, in the sensational September 29, 2008 blast at Malegaon, which claimed seven lives and left over a 100 injured.

Special MCOCA judge Y D Shinde allowed the prosecution to file the charge sheet, but reserved order on taking cognisance of the same, as all 11 accused refused to accept the sections levied against them under the stringent MCOCA. 

“The application of MCOCA has been done in haste. The court should first evaluate if the application of the provision of MCOCA against the accused is appropriate and only then take cognisance of the charge sheet,” argued defence counsel Shrikant Shivade and Mahesh Jethmalani, representing col Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Thakur respectively.

Advocate Subhash Jadhav, defending one of the main accused, Rakesh Dhawade, argued that, “the whole case has been made up in an incorrect manner. MCOCA will be applicable only when there are two charge sheets filed and the competent court before whom the charge sheets are filed takes cognizance of it.”

According to Jadhav, the Nanded and Parbhani court has not yet taken cognisance of the alleged crime against him on which the prosecution has invoked MCOCA. 

Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian argued that the provisions of MCOCA had been applied correctly and the court could take cognisance of the charge sheet. The charge sheet filed against the 11 accused include charges against them under sections of the MCOCA, IPC, UAPA, Arms and explosive acts. 

A bomb strapped to a motorcycle had exploded in Bhiku Chowk area of Malegaon on September 29 last year, killing seven and injuring more than 70. The ATS probe revealed the involvement of members of right wing organisation ‘Abhinav Bharat’. 

The ATS invoked MCOCA against the accused who are presently in judicial custody. MCOCA was implemented on November 21.Investigations in the case are not yet over despite the filing of the charge sheet, with the ATS still on the lookout for at least three persons who allegedly planted the bomb.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2009012120090121024300515f53d3b61/Conspirators-had-planned-to-take-over-the-country

Conspirators had planned to take over the country

By Mumbai Mirror Bureau
Posted On Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 02:43:00 AM
     

It was a conspiracy that had taken over seven months and it result in the September 29 Malegaon blast. The objectives were actually much larger and far reaching than the six lives it claimed. According to the charge sheet filed by the Maharshtra ATS in the case, the 14 conspirators of the terror attack had planned to take over the country and establish a Hindu Rashtra — with its own constitution and a saffron national flag.

At the helm of affairs of this conspiracy is a serving army officer — Lt Col Prasad Srikant Purohit, who had floated a Hindu radical group — Abhinav Bharat — on February 9, 2007. The intention of the organisation, says the charge sheet, was to “propagate a separate Hindu Rashtra with its own constitution and aims, and with Bharat Swarajya, Surajya, Suraksha in its preamble.” It adds that members of “this organised crime syndicate wanted to adopt a national flag i.e. solo-themed saffron flag with a golden border. The length of the flag would be twice its breadth with an ancient golden torch (bhagwa dhwaj).”

The Conspiracy

The conspiracy, according to the charge sheet, was hatched through several meetings held between January 2008 and September 2008 at Faridabad, Kolkata, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Indore and Nashik. The first meeting was held on January 25-26 at Faridabad in which Purohit, in the presence of other accused in the case, said he would provide explosives for the blast.

Decision on target

After a few meetings on spreading terror among the Muslim community, in a crucial meeting held in Bhopal on April 11, 12, 2008, Malegaon was chosen as the target. The meeting was attended by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Purohit, Pande and Sudhakar Chaturvedi, all accused in the case. In the meet it was decided “to take revenge against Muslims in Malegaon by exploding bombs in a thickly populated area”. It was at this meet that Pragya agreed to provide two men, her close associates, to execute the blasts.

Bomb planters

On June 11, 2008, another meeting was held at Circuit House in Indore. Here, Pragya introduced Ramji alias Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, the absconding accused who planted the bomb, to Pandey and assured that they would do the job well. In another meeting next month in Indore, Pragya directed Pandey to ask Purohit to hand over the explosives to Ramji and Dange. 

Explosives brought from Kashmir

On August 3, 2008, in a meeting held at the dharmashala of Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, Purohit was given the responsibility of procuring RDX and providing it to Ramji for the blast. At the same meeting, Purohit arranged to train Ramji and Dange in exploding bombs. For this, he asked another accused Rakesh Dhawade, who is a trained expert in handling bombs and making improvised explosive devices, to give the explosives to and train Ramji and Dange. Both had visited and stayed in Pune between August 9 and 11, 2008 for the purpose. The RDX that Purohit provided to the planters of the bomb had been brought by him from Kashmir while he was returning after completing his posting there. He had stored it in a cupboard in his house and later provided it to Ramji and others for making the bomb.

Final preparations

After this, Purohit arranged for a forged arms licence and entry pass to Deolali camp area in Nashik for accused Sudhakar Chaturvedi. Meanwhile, in September 2008, another accused, identified as Pravin Mutalik, joined the group and was reported to be staying at Chaturvedi’s residence in Deolali from September 22, 2008 with Ramji, who had brought a golden LML Freedom bike with him. It was here that Ramji, Dange and Mutalik assembled the bomb.

The trio later used the same bike to plant the bomb near Bhiku Chowk in Central Malegaon and successfully exploded it killing six people and injuring over a hundred.

Finances

There were several financial transactions that took place to facilitate the conspiracy in terms of procuring explosives and firearms. According to the charge sheet, Purohit collected around Rs 21 lakh for himself and his organisation Abhinav Bharat. The amount was given to the organisation’s treasurer, Ajay Rahirkar, an accused in the case. Rahirkar in turn disbursed the amount among various accused on the directions of Purohit for furtherance of their conspiracy. Of this, Purohit had taken Rs 1 lakh to procure hand grenades. He further paid Rs 2.5 lakh to a builder in Nashik to buy a bungalow for himself. He also gave Rs 2.25 lakh to Dhawade to procure explosives and arrange for training for the planters of the bomb. Dhawde was also paid Rs 3.20 lakh by Rahirkar for weapons and cartridges.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2009012120090121024258421c0705a9e/Very-little-evidence-against-Pragya

Very little evidence against Pragya

By Mumbai Mirror Bureau
Posted On Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 02:42:58 AM
 Pretty Good Pretty Good Pretty Good Pretty Good Pretty Good

On Tuesday morning, as the court discussed the charge sheet filed by the ATS in the September 29 Malegaon blast case, it was confusing to see that while accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit sat gloomily in court, key accused Pragya Singh Thakur's lawyers engaged in gleeful bantering with the public prosecutor. However, a perusal of the charge sheet shows that they probably had good reason to do so.

In most of the charge sheet, as opposed to initial claims of the ATS, it was Purohit who came up as the key accused, while little evidence seemed to have been cited over Pragya's involvement in the conspiracy. A close scrutiny of the case against Pragya shows that she might either go scot free or at the most be punished with a much smaller sentence compared to her co-accused.

While the charge sheet mentions Purohit in almost every paragraph and cites him as a key planner, initiator and co-ordinator of the conspiracy, Pragya is mentioned only in a few instances.The only major charge against Pragya is the fact that she participated in the meetings, that too not all, and that her bike was used for the blasts.

While the first charge will stick only when ATS provides hard evidence of the Malegaon conspiracy being directly hatched in these meetings, the latter has already been mitigated by Pragya's alibi that she had sold her bike much before it was used for the blast.

Another accusation against Pragya is that it was her trusted men, Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, who executed the blast. The prosecution will have a hard time nailing Pragya in this as both the accused, who were allegedly provided by Pragya for the blasts, are absconding. Unless they are caught and their statements recorded, the defence will find many holes in the prosecution's case to save Pragya.






# posted by Unknown @ 4:49 AM
Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?