Samjhauta blast case: No proof against Lt Col Purohit says NIA chief

The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday said there was no proof against Lt Col Prasad Purohit in the Samjhauta blast case but investigation against him is underway in connection with the Malegaon blast case.

"There is no proof against him in Samjhauta blast case. He was never an accused. I wonder why his name is being linked to Samjhauta blast case," NIA Director General Sharad Kumar told PTI in New Delhi.

He said Purohit has been chargesheeted by ATS Mumbai in Malegaon blasts in 2008 and NIA was carrying out further investigations in the matter.

The NIA has filed charge sheet against eight people in connection with Samjhauta blast case which includes Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Asimanand, Late Sunil Joshi alias Sunilji, Ramchandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange (both absconding), Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan, Amit and Rajender Choudhary.

The case pertains to the criminal conspiracy which resulted in bomb blasts in the Attari Express (Samjhauta) train near Panipat, Haryana on February 18, 2007.

This blast and the consequent fire in the train coaches resulted in the loss of 68 lives and injuries to 12 train passengers including women and children travelling in the train.

The other case, in which Purohit is an accused, pertains to bombing in Malegaon area of Maharashtra on September 29, 2008. A blast rocked the area in which four persons were killed while several others injured. The probe was initially conducted by the Maharashtra ATS and later handed over to the NIA.

Besides Purohit, Pragya Singh Thakur, Shivnarayan Kalsangra, Shyam Sahu, Ramesh Upadhya, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay, Rakesh Dhawade, Jagdish Mhatre, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Pravin Takalki have been arrested.

Ramaji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, who are absconding accused in the Samjauta blast case, have also been chargesheeted in this case.