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Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit has been in jail as an
under-trial for over five years under the stringent MCOCA (Maharashtra
Control of Organized Crime Act) for the alleged crime of having
masterminded the Malegaon bomb blasts on 29 September 2008. It had led to
seven deaths and several injured. Malegaon is a communally sensitive
textile producing town in Nashik district of Maharashtra. As per 2011 Census, the population
of Malegaon is 471,006. Muslims comprise nearly
half of its population concentrated mostly in the eastern part of the city.
By all accounts, it has been a communally charged and divided town for some
decades now.
The investigation of these blasts was initially handled by the
Maharashtra ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad). This notorious agency officially
announced the arrest of Purohit on 5 November 2008 but he was actually
abducted and brought to the illegal custody of ATS on 29 October 2008 by a
fellow officer of Indian Army, Col. R.K. Shrivastav. However, despite the
NIA (National Investigation Agency) taking over the Malegaon blast case for
investigation in April 2011, till date no charge sheet has been filed by
the NIA against Purohit.
If India’s human rights community had not become addicted to
the advantages that come with playing partisan politics, Lt. Col. Purohit
would not be languishing in jail today without trial. His lawless
incarceration, brutal torture and denial of due process would have bothered
our human rights community had they developed proper protocols for adopting
cases of rights abuse.
Spine Chilling Story of Maharashtra ATS Lawlessness
Thus even the bare facts of Lt Col. Purohit’s case make a
spine chilling reading. I appeal to the readers to judge for themselves
whether or not the treatment meted out to Purohit deserves our
attention. At the time
when Malegaon bomb blast case investigation was in progress, Purohit was
undergoing a course in Arabic language in the AEC (Army Education Corps)
Training College and Centre at Panchmarhi in Madhya Pradesh. He had
specifically requested this
18 months long course in writing and the same was strongly recommended by
the Commanding Officer of Southern Command Liaison Unit of Military
Intelligence, based on his service profile, experience and performance.
Before that he was posted in Devlali in district Nashik as an Intelligence
Officer of the Southern Command Liaison Unit, Pune. Purohit was deputed to
the Intelligence Wing of the Indian Army after he suffered a serious knee
injury during anti-terrorist operations in Kashmir. His knee had to be
reconstructed and the doctors advised him not to undertake any serious
physical activity such as running or mountain climbing. That made him unfit
for resuming his earlier job in the Infantry Division of the Army.
Even while undergoing the Arabic Language course at Panchmarhi
in MP, he remained professionally active since intelligence gathering is a
continuous process. This was recorded in the form of statements by
witnesses who have been examined during the court of inquiry conducted by
the Army after his arrest. By all accounts, Purohit had developed an
effective intelligence network and was successful in putting together
useful information about the infamous terror group, SIMI (Students Islamic
Movement of India) and its links with Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the
ISI (Inter Services Intelligence). Purohit’s service record shows that he
had received several commendation certificates for good performance. The
Confidential Reports (CR’s) by his seniors were also consistently positive.
To quote a few:
“The officer (Lt. Col.
Purohit) has infiltrated the SIMI and other underground outfits in the
region through his capabilities and go getter attitude” - Army’s Confidential Report (31 Dec 06)
“He (Lt. Col. Purohit)
developed an effective informant network in the AOR [Area of
Responsibility] which led to acquisition of Naxal propaganda, Maoists and
Terrorists.” -Army’s
Confidential Report (15th February 2008)
“My heartiest
congratulations to you and all ranks of the battalion for successful
operations in Gen Area Rangai on 07 May 02 which led to the killing of two
foreign terrorists and recovery of large quantity of war like stores” - Brig. Prakash Menon, Commander, 68, Mountain Brigade (8 May 02)
“I am extremely pleased
to learn about the achievements of your Cell in obtaining actionable
intelligence relating to the terrorist activities in you AOR.” - Lt. Col. Amitabh Joshi, Offg CO, 31, Composite
Intelligence Unit (20
Mar 03)
“I am extremely pleased
to learn about the achievements of your Cell in obtaining intelligence
relating to presence of hard core terrorists at Thimaran Forest MZ 2980 in
your AOR” - Lt. Col. Amitabh Joshi, Offg CO,
31, Composite Intelligence Unit (04 Sep 03)
Beginning of Purohit’s Incarceration
As per Purohit’s “Statutory Complaint” (http://www.scribd.com/doc/233132999/)
dated 05 August 2009to his Commanding
Officer, Brigadier Sandeep Kumar, the then Commandant at AEC School
Panchmarhi, on 24th October 2008, he was called in the
middle of the night by a certain Colonel Rajiv K. Shrivastav, who claimed
to have been directed by the Army Headquarters to question him about
Malegaon blasts. Purohit told him that he had already forwarded a
handwritten report to Maj. Bhagirath Dey who was then posted as
Intelligence Officer of the team at Jabalpur in addition to telephonic
information he provided to Col Vinay Panchpore, Commanding Officer of
Southern Command and Major Praveen Khanzode, Intelligence Officer Southern
Command Devlali Unit where Purohit was posted prior to his move to
Panchmarhi for the Arabic course.
From 1 AM to 3 AM, in the thick of night, Purohit was
questioned about his alleged involvement in Malegaon Blasts of 29 September
2008 in the presence of Brigadier Sandeep Kumar at the VIP guest room of
the AEC Training College. Thereafter, Shrivastav questioned him alone till
8 AM. Before the interrogation began, Shrivastav took away Purohit’s mobile
phones so that he could not inform anyone what was happening to him. It is
noteworthy that all these proceedings took place without Shrivastav showing
any written order or instructions by higher authorities to interrogate
Purohit.
Between 8 AM on 25 October and 9 AM, 29 October, 2008, Purohit
faced no further interrogation. In fact, Shrivastav came to meet Purohit at
his residence twice and also met him at a social get-togethers at the
officers institute. However, on 29 October, 2008, at about 9 AM, that is
four days after grilling him an entire night, Purohit was called by Lt.
Col. G.C. Mohanta, Adjutant, Army Education Corps College to his office and
informed that he had to accompany Col. Shrivastav to New Delhi. Since no
army officer can go from one place to another without an official “movement
order” which specifies to which destination the person is being sent and to
whom he has to report, Purohit was handed a written order that he had to
report to Integrated Headquarters of the Army (Ministry of Defence) for
interaction with Military Intelligence20, There are 2 witnesses, namely Lt.
Col. Mohanta and Lt. Col. Sanjay Kumar to Shrivastav handing over this
order to Purohit. (See Original Movement Order: http://www.scribd.com/doc/233131904/ )
When Purohit was about to leave for Bhopal from Panchmarhi
from where he and Shrivastav were to board a flight to New Delhi, Purohit
was ordered not to carry any mobile phone with him. The one he was carrying
was taken away and deposited with the Adjutant AEC Training College. This
order was blatantly illegal and a sign of things to come.
Purohit says, at the Bhopal airport, Shrivastav did the
check-in for both of them and summarily informed Purohit that they were
going to Mumbai instead of New Delhi. This amounted to gross violation of
army conduct rules because no officer is allowed to change the route or his
destination in defiance of the “movement order”. Purohit had not only been
deprived of his mobile phone but also not allowed to inform his wife or
mother about the change in destination. Shrivastav prevented him from
accessing even a public phone by threatening Purohit with physical violence
if he tried to use a public phone facility. This too amounted to illegal
detention of an army officer. Any civilian would have created a ruckus at
the airport if the police or any other authority had acted so high handed.
But Purohit had to keep quiet since Shrivastav was his senior and obedience
to a senior’s command is inculcated as a quintessential requirement in the
army hierarchy.
What followed is a hair-raising story best told in the words
of Purohit
himself as narrated in his“Statutory
Complaint”:
We reached Mumbai Airport
late at night at around 2230 or 2300 hrs on 29 Oct 2008. Immediately, I was
taken in a civil TATA Sumo vehicle (which purportedly was of Intelligence
Bureau) which drove approximately for two hours. We arrived at an unknown
place at the end of the journey. Immediately, I was taken [for
interrogation] to a room having no windows. A team of interrogators were
already present there. This team comprised of Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of
Maharashtra Police and Intelligence Bureau officials. Though all of them
were in civil dress, I got to know the names, designation and appointments
of all these officials in due course of time.
I was interrogated by this
combined team for almost two hours on the night of 29/30 Oct 2008. Till
then all the members of interrogating team was talking to me with a respect
deserved by an army officer. After initial two hours of questioning, it was
Colonel Shrivastav (Director Military Intelligence - 9) who suddenly sprung
from his chair and initiated a brutal physical assault on me. He slapped me
on my face at will and continued slapping me and started kicking me all
over the body with his shoes on. Colonel R K Shrivastav then started
pulling my hair on head and chest as well. At this stage the other
interrogators, including the Indian Police Service cadre officers of Anti
Terrorism Squad and Intelligence Bureau officers, joined him in physically
assaulting me. My face was totally swollen then. Colonel R K Shrivastav’s
actions of physical assault on me made the Police and Intelligence Bureau
officers shed their inhibition of carrying out physical torture of mine, a
serving army officer. Colonel R K Shrivastav then stood on my feet and legs
as I was tied to a chair and inhumanly started twisting my nipples and my
private parts (genitals) with all his strength. Colonel Shrivastav once
again started hitting me on my face and even boxing me with tight fists on
my back. Colonel Shrivastav was holding and pulling my hair on head while
the other Indian Police Service officers tortured me. I was in absolute
state of shock and totally shattered by this physical assault carried out
by Colonel R K Shrivastav, (Director Military Intelligence - 9).
This nightmare of physical assaults hitting, slapping,
twisting of private parts, tying me to a chair, standing on my legs, feet
coupled with dirtiest possible abuses on my mother, wife and sister
continued unabated. After four days of continuous beating and torture, on
02 Nov 2008, Colonel Shrivastav ordered the Police to handcuff me. This was
breach of privilege for a serving army officer and it was not police
officers but insistence of Col Shrivastav which caused the same. I was
handcuffed and remained in that condition till 04 Nov 2008.
The sequence of beating and brutal torture was intermittently
on with Colonel Shrivastav abusing me about my mother, wife and sister. He
kept on threatening me that if I don’t own up my involvement in the
Malegaon Bomb Blast, he (Colonel Shrivastav) would strip my mother, wife
and sister and make them parade naked in front of me. Police officially
arrested me on 05 Nov 2008 and the legal process commenced.
Thus, from 29 October to 4 November 2008, Lt. Col. Purohit was
illegally detained by the ATS in an unknown private establishment in the
hill town of Khandala near Mumbai. On 5 November 2008, he was officially
declared as Accused No. 9 by the ATS and was shown to be officially
arrested. It was alleged that he was part of a “saffron terror” group- meaning,
a radical Hindu group oriented towards the ideology of Hindutva.
Since then Purohit has suffered inhuman torture and been incarcerated in
jail without trial for nearly six years now. To quote again from his
“Complaint”:
From 29 Oct 2008 to 04 Nov 2008, I was not allowed to talk to
my family members even once over the telephone. I was confined to the same
unknown location with round the clock Police guard guarding me while I was
in handcuffed condition. I was totally broken down and traumatized, both physically
and mentally. It was not any state police but Col Shrivastav, who led me
into the trap of illegal detention and torture. Colonel R K Shrivastav kept
on insisting that I should own up my involvement in the Malegaon Bomb Blast
and should give it in writing, to which I asked him how I could own up
something which I am not even aware of. The only possible explanation I
could assign to his malafide actions is his efforts to boost his career
prospects in the most un-officer like manner.
Once I was arrested and lodged in the Police Custody, on 14
Nov 2008 my father in law and my advocate had come to meet me at the said
Police Station. Colonel Shrivastav was present there. Colonel Shrivastav
said that it is his promise that my sons would live in an orphanage hence
forth as he would ensure my entire family would be arrested and imprisoned.
Purohit narrated the story of his illegal detention,
abduction, brutal torture and diverse forms of coercion to give false
statements against himself to his wife Aparna Purohit on 15 November 2008
when she met him during the court hearing at Nashik. Aparna wrote a letter
to the COAS (Chief of the Army Staff) on 16 November 2008 describing what
she had learnt from her husband. But she has yet to receive a
response to her appeal for justice.
Six years in Jail without Trial
Purohit, who had acquired a key position in the military
intelligence network to track SIMI and ISI terror modules, remained in
police custody for nearly a month and thereafter was sent to judicial
custody. While in police custody, he was not allowed to communicate with
either his wife or any other relatives. When In judicial custody, his first
response was to demand a medical inspection at a military hospital so that
he could get the required treatment for the acute physical agony he was
suffering because of the injuries and severe damage inflicted on him on
account of third degree torture first by Shrivastav and later by the ATS
team headed by Karkare. As
he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 May 2014:
The worst possible third degree treatment probably which not
even an enemy nation would dish out to the prisoner of war was given to me
which definitely left me broken, both mentally and physically. My
whereabouts were known to none from my family. Attempts from my wife to
locate me met with dead end since Lt. Col G C Mohanta the Adjutant AEC
Centre claimed his unawareness about the same. His statement in this regard
about the same is on record of Court of Inquiry. (Purohit's
Letter to Prime Minister Modi)
Purohit’s medical exam was conducted at INS Ashwini in
mid-December 2008 which corroborated the account of injuries he has
described in his “Statutory Complaint”. The medical exam confirmed that the
nerves of both his hands were damaged in addition to permanent damage
caused to his right knee. This was the same knee which had been
reconstructed after injuries he had suffered during combat operations
against terrorists in Kashmir.
ATS Got Army Officer to do Dirty Work for Them?
In the Statutory Complaint,
Purohit also points out the sheer lawlessness of Shrivastav’s action in
collusion with the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra Police headed by
Karkare:
As I understand the legal procedure, if at all I am involved
in any criminal activity. The police will seek permission of army
authorities for my custody. Probably it was sought and granted but I was
not informed of the same initially or subsequently. An army officer cannot
be absconding like any normal civilian. Hence the secrecy surrounding the
actions leading to my arrest cannot be understood. Thus, I can safely
presume that it was handiwork of Col Shrivastav to keep everything under wraps
and expose a brother officer to torture and inhuman treatment.
Military Intelligence is not the investigating agency but the
intelligence agency and in any case a single member investigation is not
desirable in any case for inherent flaws of personal biases and fancies.
Col Shrivastav assumed the charge of proceeding single handed and
overstepped his mandate (if at all any was specified) in mistreating and
torturing me...
Maharashtra police can arrest an individual from Madhya
Pradesh only after informing local police. This would not have been
possible because Madhya Pradesh police would have asked for warrant or
incriminatory evidence to allow Maharashtra police to do so. Maharashtra
police took safe way in forcing army authorities completing their not so
easy job. Whenever an accused is transported from one state to other a
transit remand is required and Maharashtra police were sure of scrutiny by
MP police. It was quite evident from the proceedings of the case that no
such evidence or foolproof case was with Maharashtra Police ATS. I am
claiming so because even while under army law, I am enjoying the status of
citizen of India and protected by laws of the land.
Shrivastav’s Forgery of “Movement Order”
From 29 October 2008 to 5 November 2008, Purohit was a
“missing person” as far as the army is concerned because while he left
Panchmarhi on the basis of a “movement order” listing his destination as
Delhi, he was prevented from reporting to army headquarters. It has also
been established by the Army Court of Inquiry that the “movement order” was
forged by Shrivastav who cut out the destination mentioned in the original
order which asked Purohit to report to Army Headquarters in Delhi and wrote
in his own handwriting that he had to report in Mumbai. (See
Forged Movement Order: http://www.scribd.com/doc/233242297/ )
However, after arbitrarily changing the destination to Mumbai,
Col. Shrivastav did not take Purohit to the army base in Mumbai. Instead,
he handed Purohit over to the ATS in charge, Hemant Karkare in Mumbai whose
team also subjected Purohit, a serving army officer to third degree torture
for weeks on end. Legally,
this is something not allowed even to prisoners of war. (See
Lt. Col Purohit's Statutory Complaint against Col. Shrivastav to the Army: http://www.scribd.com/doc/233132999/
Purohit’s charges against Shrivastav are summed up as
follows:
- He
cheated a brother officer by not informing about the orders of arrest
available with him.
- He
wilfully misguided me by getting movement order for New Delhi prepared
and forcefully diverting me to Mumbai.
- He
took upon himself the job of Maharashtra police which was not mandated
to him (presuming that he was given responsibility to hand me over to
Maharashtra police) in detaining, torturing and mistreating me.
- He
wrongly confined me and illegally detained me, initially at Panchmarhi
and later on at unknown place in Maharashtra.
- He
did not allow me to contact my wife or mother or any other relative.
- He
physically assaulted me even after knowing full well that I am a
serving officer.
- He
forcefully tried to extract a false statement and forced me to give a
statement for the actions and acts not done by me. [Purohit’s wife
Aparna told me that while he was in ATS custody, Purohit was coerced
under brutal torture to read out before a video camera certain self
incriminating ‘Confessions”. This
“confession” was then broadcast over media. But as per law,
confessions made by an accused, while in police custody, are not
considered creditworthy unless the person concerned is brought in
before a magistrate to endorse the confession—that too after being
kept 24 hours outside police custody. This legal precaution is
supposed to be maintained so that the police don’t send cases for
trial on the basis of false confessions obtained under torture. But in
Purohit’s case, his alleged confession was never presented before a
magistrate nor presented before the Army Court of inquiry. Therefore,
it is totally invalid and indicates mal intent].
- He
tried inhuman methods to extract false confession.
- He
kept on slapping false allegations and accusations against me during
my interrogation and thereafter during Court of Inquiry.
- He used abusive and extremely
derogatory language including obscenities and insulting remarks
against the women members of my family.
- He
violated the human rights of a brother officer by his actions over
that entire period.
Aparna Purohit narrated to me in a video-recorded interview on
6 July 2014 that she too was subject to a most humiliating form of
interrogation by Karkare and Shrivastav. When all else failed, they tried
to instigate Aparna against her own husband by falsely alleging that he was
having extra marital affairs. However, when even that failed, Shrivastav
threatened Aparna in the same tenor that he had used with Purohit saying
that he would make sure that her children were orphaned. (For extracts of Aparna’s interview click here)
Supportive Evidence from Eye Witnesses
There is a plethora of supporting evidence to indicate that
Lt. Colonel Purohit is likely to have been falsely implicated. For
instance, there are two eyewitnesses namely Subedar Pawar and Major Praveen
Khanzode - who have testified before the army Court of Inquiry that they
saw Assistant Police Inspector (API) Bagade planting traces of RDX in the
house of Sudhakar Chaturvedi who was one of the key links in the
Intelligence Network cultivated by Purohit while he was posted at Nashik.
Sudhakar Chaturvedi was also arrested as Accused No 11 in this
case even though he was a registered intelligence operator and was entered
as such in the army’s official records by Purohit. The ATS claimed him
arrested on 20 November 2008 and have shown his house, which was provided
to him in the cantonment area, searched under panchnama on 25 November 2008. In the
charge-sheet the ATS have claimed that the traces of RDX explosives which
were recovered from Chaturvedi’s house during the claimed search on 25
November 2008 prove that the bomb used in the Malegaon blast was prepared
and assembled at Chaturvedi’s house at Devlali, Nashik at the behest of
Purohit who was ideologically motivated to undertake bomb blasts on account
of his alleged “saffron” affiliation.
However during the Army’s Court of Inquiry, Major Praveen
Khanzode and Subedar Keshav R Pawar, stated that on 3 November 2008, i.e. 2
days before Purohit’s official arrest and 17 days before the arrest of
Chaturvedi, that they had caught Shekhar Bagade of ATS red handed while he
was planting evidence at Chaturvedi’s house. On getting caught Bagade
pleaded with them with folded hands not to report his presence at
Chaturvedi’s house to any one as it would create lot of problems for him
and may even cost him his job. This
incident was reported
by Major Khanzode to all his seniors in Devlali and also to Headquarters
Southern Command, Pune. (Page 330 of the Court of Inquiry Report of 8 July
2009).
Khanzode told the Court of Inquiry that he had also recounted
this incident to a number of officers at HQ SCLU Pune on November 4 and
November 5, 2008.
This is how they happened to catch Bagade. On 3 November 2008, Subedar
Pawar called Khanzode to say that API Bagade of Nashik ATS had called him
on his mobile and asked him for directions and keys to Sudhakar
Chaturvedi’s house. Khanzode asked Pawar to convey to Bagade to wait while
he took clearance from his Commanding Officer. This was necessary since
Chaturvedi was a key informer for the army. This clearance came within 10
minutes but when Khanzode communicated this to Pawar, the latter told him
that Bagade had said that he had been recalled to his office and he was
rushing back to Nashik. Pawar and Khanzode found this a bit strange since
they knew Bagade was in the know of Chaturvedi’s residential address. In
any case, since the case was already hyped in the media, Pawar and Khanzode
decided to go and check Chaturvedi’s house to make sure everything was in
order. Khanzode drove the scooter while Subedar Pawar was riding pillion.
He testified that while he was turning his scooter near Chaturvedi’s house,
Pawar got down from the vehicle and went in to check on the house. By the
time Khanzode came over, he saw Pawar coming out of the open door of
Chaturvedi’s house. Pawar
had gone in because he was shocked to find the house door open and decided
to walk in. There he found API Bagade all alone doing something on the
floor. Bagade got nervous seeing him suddenly drop in and pleaded with
Pawar to not inform anybody of this incident, especially his seniors or
else that would endanger his job and might prove dangerous for him in other
ways as well.
It is a mandatory legal requirement that if someone’s house or
official premises are to be searched in the person’s absence, there has to be either “panchas” (official
witnesses) or a proper panchnama(affidavit
testifying on the spot if any evidence of wrong doing has been found or
tampered with). But when caught in Chaturvedi’s house by Pawar and
Khanzode, Bagade was all alone in that house. He did not even make pretence of
preparing a panchnama.
Thus two key eyewitnesses have testified in favour of Purohit
and given clear indication that API Bagade of ATS was up to some mischief
and that RDX traces recovered by ATS from Chaturvedi’s house were in all
likelihood planted by Bagade. ( See Maj. Khanzode and Sub. Pawar's statements in the Army
Court of Inquiry: http://www.scribd.com/doc/233132469/ )
Even Col Shrivastav himself has given a statement in the Army
Court of Inquiry that Sudhakar Chaturvedi’s house was searched in the first
or second week of November 2008. Shrivastav also said that he knew the
contents of Chaturvedi’s house beforehand—that is, before he was ordered to
“detach from the case on 20 November 2008.” (See
Col. Shrivastav's statements in the Army Court of Inquiry: http://www.scribd.com/doc/233132469/ )
Third Key Witness
Alleges Statement under Torture & Blackmail by ATS
On the other hand, Captain Nitin Duttatray Joshi, the only
witness to have initially testified against Purohit, wrote a formal
complaint to the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) on
5/10/2010 alleging that he had been threatened, blackmailed and coerced by
the ATS into falsely implicating Col. Purohit. That complaint has till date
not been acted upon.
In his testimony before the MSHRC after describing how Bagade
tried forcing him into implicating Purohit during interrogations, Joshi
says he was taken to Kala Chowki Police Station, the Mumbai ATS office on
12 November 2008. There ATS officer Mr. Dilip Shreerao called him to his
office and threatened that ATS would make sure that he stayed in jail for
15 years if he refused to cooperate with them. Their only aim was to
extract a confession out of him implicating Lt. Col. Purohit in the
Malegaon blasts by building a case that Purohit was an active member of
Abhinav Bharat - a Hindu organisation which had allegedly taken to
countering Islamic terrorism with acts of terror to be carried out by
Hindus.
Joshi writes that they even took him to the ATS headquarters
and showed him the torture chamber where Purohit was held captive. He was
given a brief glimpse of the plight of Purohit who displayed clear signs of
torture in order to convey the message that if a serving officer could be
reduced to such a hapless, pathetic state, a retired Captain like Joshi
could face much worse unless he “co-operated with the ATS”-- a euphemism
for becoming an accomplice or else false cases would be slapped against
him. Joshi says he was thrown into a dirty cell and put at the mercy of
crude constables who abused him in the foulest of language under the guise
of “interrogation”. One of the ATS officers told Joshi, “If we can arrest a
serving Lt. Col. and a Shankracharya, we can easily do the same with you
and your family members.”(P. 260)
Joshi confessed to the MSHRC that with the prospect of “being
implicated in false cases and the same happening to his family”, he agreed
to give whatever statement that the ATS wanted him to give. Thereafter, he
was again taken from Nashik to Mumbai ATS office where Mohan Kulkarni and
another officer dictated a statement to Joshi which he had to give before a
Magistrate under section 164. Joshi writes that the following lies were
dictated to him:
Lt. Col. Prasad gave him (Capt. Joshi) three weapons and
ammunition to be kept in his house for a month sometime in 2006. The
description of the weapons was also dictated to him. He saw RDX in a green
sack at Lt Col. Purohit’s house at Devlali. Lt. Col Purohit confessed to
Capt. Joshi about having supplied RDX for the Samjhauta Express blast.
Lt. Col. Purohit told Joshi in early 2008 that something was
planned to be done soon. He further told Joshi that an action was planned
in Nashik district in Oct/Nov 2008. Joshi was asked to say that Purohit had
confessed to him about planning and executing the Malegaon blast along with
his accomplices. He was further ordered to state that on October 2008, one
Rakesh Dhawade had come to stay in Bhonsala Military School. A boy Praveen
had come to visit him with instructions from Lt. Col. Purohit to learn
about martial arts from Dhawade.
The said statement was given a final shape in the office of
Dileep Shreerao in consultation with Hemant Karkare. During this period,
even when Joshi went to spend the night in the house of his relatives in
Parel, an ATS Constable accompanied him like a shadow and slept in the same
house.
Joshi further adds that on 18 November 2008, the day he had to
go and record his statement in front of a magistrate, the I.O.
(Intelligence Officer) Mr. Kulkarni took him to a room in the ATS office
and threatened him with a loaded pistol in hand saying, “Do not dare to
retract in front of the magistrate or else one bullet from this will be
lodged in your brain.” A similar threat with a loaded pistol was delivered
to him just before Joshi was about to go into the court room.
Joshi adds that after his statement was recorded, it was not
sealed as is the mandatory requirement. Instead, it was simply put into an
envelope which was then stapled. On 30 November, Joshi was again called to
Nashik ATS office where the I.O. again threatened him with dire
consequences for him and his family, if he even thought about retracting
his statement. All these events led to his estrangement from the Bhonsala
Military School and he ended up resigning from there after a few weeks.
Joshi disowned the statement extracted from him by the ATS
saying that he could not live with this guilt for long since he fell in his
own eyes for having failed to withstand the coercive tactics of ATS despite
being a military officer. Therefore, he felt compelled to file a complaint
before the Human Rights Commission regarding the illegal and
unconstitutional methods adopted by the ATS to obtain “false statements”
from him. Joshi appealed to the Commission to protect him from further harm
and take up his case as one of gross violation of his human rights. He also
sought damages worth Rs. 25 lakhs. It
is a sad commentary on the working of our State Human Rights Commission
that even though this case was filed on 5/10/2009, no action whatsoever has
been taken on it thus far. (Capt.
Nitin Dattatray Joshi's complaint to Maharashtra State Human Rights
Commission: http://www.scribd.com/doc/233133040/ )
Purohit made no bones about making the following serious
charge against the ATS in his letter to Prime Minister Modi:
His [Chaturvedi’s] arrest of 5 November 2008 was timed only
after planting of RDX at Chaturvedi’s house, by the Anti Terrorism Squad of
Maharashtra Police, on 3 November 2008!The Maharashtra ATS were
and are ‘running with the hare and hunting with the hound’ all throughout
and are faking the investigation all along by launching scathing media
releases and briefing.
Why Purohit is Likely to be a Victim of a Conspiracy
The likelihood of Purohit being a victim of a deep-seated
conspiracy is heightened by the fact that:
1. The Army Court of
Inquiry did not find him guilty which is why he has neither been suspended
nor dismissed from the army despite being in jail for so many years. The
army continues to pay Purohit’s wife his full salary. Had there been any
evidence of him having played foul, it is highly unlikely that the army
would have withheld his dismissal for so many years.
2. Despite severe forms of
torture, calumny defamation and blackmail at the hands of ATS, Purohit has
successfully withstood all pressure and maintained that he is innocent. In
fact, he has argued his case convincingly in the “Statutory Complaint” to
the army as well as during the cross examination in the Court of
Inquiry.
3. His self-view of being
a zealous patriot who goes beyond the call of routine duty to crack terror
networks that threaten India has been borne out by the commendation he has
received in the “Confidential Reports” from his seniors as well as from the
Police officials with whom he was coordinating his intelligence operations.
4. R K Shrivastav’s
responses to his cross examination by Purohit and a junior officer like
Subedar Pawar are evasive and slimy whereas the questions posed to him by
Purohit and Pawar both junior in rank to him are direct and forthright (For
the full text of these two cross examinations, See Annexure 3). Not
surprisingly, the Army’s Court of Inquiry did not give credence to
Shrivastav’s charges against Purohit and Pawar.
5. The two real eye
witnesses have testified against Bagade and Shrivastav and in favour of
Purohit. Their testimonies clearly point towards a well-planned though
clumsily executed conspiracy to falsely implicate Purohit. Eight other
witnesses also clear Purohit of all the charges levelled by the ATS. Capt.
Joshi, the only witness who implicated Purohit’s name with the Malegaon
blasts not only retracted his statement but lodged a complaint with the
State Human Rights Commission alleging coercion, deadly threats and
outright blackmail with a view to
extract false testimony against Purohit.
6. The
circumstantial evidence also favours Purohit and shows ATS in a very
sinister light. Its officers acted lawlessly, indulging in abduction,
forgery, cheating and misleading the army establishment, indulging in third
degree torture of a serving army officer and declaring him guilty even
before the trial began.
Possible Reasons Why Purohit was Targeted
Lt. Col. Purohit is likely to have been victimized in such an
ominous manner because of his role in cracking ISI linked terrorist
networks. As mentioned earlier, Purohit had succeeded in infiltrating SIMI
and other ISI patronised terror modules in India, including their front
organisations in the field of education, culture, media, religion, and even
political parties. Manushi managed to get hold of two power point
presentations Purohit had prepared on the ISI and SIMI relationship as well
as their mode of operation. These were meant for briefing his seniors and
as training modules. (Purohit's
Presentation on ISI & Purohit's
Presentation on SIMI) He also unearthed SIMI’s patrons and
collaborators in mainstream politics. His expertise in the field was so
well acknowledged that he was invited by the very ATS which incarcerated
him, to train its own officers. This
is what Himanshu Roy the Police Commissioner of Nashik District wrote in
appreciation of his services:
This is to put in on record, the assistance and co-operation
experienced between Nashik City Police and Military Intelligence of
Southern Command represented by you for over a period of last one and half
year.
You have shared information of vital and sensitive nature with
the Police which has proved useful to both the organisations. An educative
workshop comprising of … SIMI and ISI conducted by you on 11 Nov. 2006 was
also of great help to our organisation. The workshop reflects the depth of
your knowledge regarding your specialised subjects of Islam, SIMI and ISI.
I am confident that we will continue to get such cooperation in future
also.
Such a go-getting officer who is believed to have been doing a
competent job of cracking terror networks but also training a whole new
generation of intelligence officers understandably proved a major threat
for the ISI, SIMI and its allied organisations, including leading
politicians in mainstream parties who have developed deep vested interest
in patronising these nefarious outfits in pursuit of their narrow partisan
agendas. If Purohit’s charges are true, then its implications are very serious.
It means that by targeting Purohit, they not only may have succeeded in
exposing and counter blasting the entire Intelligence Network and sources
he had so assiduously cultivated as informers, but also protected their own
men and activities from getting exposed. In addition, they seem to have
succeeded in hammering a strong message to others in the Army, Police and
even ATS that anyone who messes around with the ISI related networks will
be crushed ruthlessly. Would this not demoralize intelligence officers and
make them risk averse when dealing with highly influential and deeply
entrenched outfits like the ISI?
“Saffron Terror” Invented to Underplay Threat of Islam
Inspired Terror Groups?
However, this high profile arrest has been ably used by the ISI
and its allied organisations, including several NGOs in India that
knowingly or unwittingly play the role of ISI’s megaphones to build a
phobic campaign against “Hindutva”
and “Saffron Terror”. If
people attribute terrorism to Islam or to the politics of Muslim community
even if rabid Muslim groups are involved in terror attacks, the entire
human rights fraternity protest wildly We are told that terrorism has no
religion and that linking acts of terror committed by this or that group to
a whole community amounts to negative profiling which leads to prejudicial
treatment against the entire community. However, the very same people
flaunt the term “Saffron Terror”, “Hindu Terror” with great glee despite
the fact that saffron is considered the most sacred colour by Hindus,
Sikhs, Buddhists and even Jains. Moreover, there is no comparable history
of mindless violence associated with saffron, unlike with the colour “red”
owned by diverse shades of Communists and Marxists. In the Sikh history,
saffron is associated with martyrdom of their gurus while they resisted
religious tyranny of certain mogul kings.
This is not to deny that some fringe political lunatics among
Hindus may have developed aspirations towards terrorist politics as a
counter to Islamic terror groups. But they remain less than marginal even
among Hindutva inspired groups. In the popular
mind, saffron is associated with tapasya, sacrifice,
renunciation and sacred rituals of almost all Indic faiths. None of the
diverse communities within the Hindu faith groups have ever made terrorism
a part of their ideological claims in the way that several rabid Islamic
groups have. Moreover, none of the dharmic texts or the temporal
authorities among Hindus sanctify violence against innocents or propagate
acts of terror as a legitimate response to the existence of other faith
groups, or treat them with intrinsic hostility.
While Left oriented NGO’s and parties claiming to be
“secular”, have made it politically fashionable to talk of the dangers of
“Saffron Terror”, they have also made it politically hazardous to talk of
Islamic terror. This is an important reason why the Indian state has been
so week-kneed in its response to terror attacks and infiltration by ISI and
terror groups. It may well be that ISI has penetrated deep into the army
and police power structures at all levels, just as Dawood Ibrahim has found
willing accomplices and patrons at the highest levels of our political
establishment which allows him to manipulate the police and bureaucracy in
India at many levels.
In his letter to the PM Narendra Modi, Purohit wrote:
My entire intelligence network which I had developed with my
team has been used against me. Three of my registered intelligence
operators are my co-accused and at least four of them are witnesses against
me. My efforts of three years have gone in vain. I must also mention here
sir that the same ATS Maharashtra Police had invited me to impart training
to them on subjects of SIMI and ISI (Student Islamic Movement of India and
the Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan) and letter to that effect were
addressed to me and to my higher Headquarters. My performance in the field
of Counter Terrorism and Counter Intelligence, both in Kashmir and in
Maharashtra is on record now. With regards the counter terrorism, though I
thoroughly enjoyed the professional hazards, I feel my acquaintance and
overzealous commitment, besides truthful reporting of the intelligence
gathered, has acted counter-productive and has made me getting falsely
implicated in the case which was meticulously stage managed.”
Therefore, Purohit’s case is not just a matter of inadvertent
injustice meted out to an individual officer who got trapped into a plot
due to error of judgement or misinformation by a select few. It points to serious
internal and external security threats faced by India. Purohit had time and
again brought all these facts to the notice of all possible concerned
ministers, former PM Manmohan Singh, former Home Minister Sushil Kumar
Shinde and even the Defence Minister A.K.Antony. But his appeals went
unheeded. Purohit says that the reasons for this non-responsiveness could
well be that the ATS Maharashtra Police were not the only players in stage
managing and manipulating the case but it involves many other important
players. For instance,
he had apprised Manmohan Singh of how the case was being politicized by the
President of NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) Sharad Pawar whose
involvement in patronizing crime syndicates has been an open secret.
In fact, way back in October
1993, the Vohra
(Committee) Report submitted
by the former Union Home Secretary,
N.N. Vohra, had submitted
a study report on the problem of the criminalisation of politics and of the nexus
among criminals, politicians and
bureaucrats in India. The report contained several observations made by official
agencies on the criminal network which was virtually running a parallel
government. It also discussed criminal gangs who enjoyed the patronage of
politicians, of all parties,
and the protection of government functionaries. It revealed that political
leaders had become the leaders of mafia gangs. The name of Dawood Ibrahim
was specifically mentioned as someone enjoying patronage from certain high
level politicians. The report states that some of these Syndicates also
have international linkages, including the foreign intelligence agencies.
It also said that the “Bombay
Blast case and communal riots in Surat and Ahmadabad have demonstrated how
the Indian underworld has been used by the Pak ISI and the latter’s network
in UAE to cause sabotage, subversion and communal tension in various parts
of the country. The investigations into the Bombay blast cases have
revealed extensive linkages of the underworld in the various governmental
agencies, political circles, business sector and the film world.” As per the Vohra
Committee, these gangs had reportedly also made inroads into the military.
It officially confirmed how over the years criminals had been elected to
local bodies, State Assemblies and even Parliament. The unpublished
Annexures to the Vohra Report were believed to contain highly explosive
material but were never made public. In 1997, the Supreme Court recommended the appointment of a
high level committee to ensure in-depth investigation into the findings of
the N.N.Vohra Committee and to secure prosecution of those involved. But
nothing came of it thus far. (For Extracts of Vohra Committee Report Click Here)
Keeping all this in view, Purohit’s words to PM Modi need to
be seriously heeded, “I
feel very strongly, after following the sequence of events, that my
apprehension does warrant rumination. Given an opportunity many facts
remain eager to get unearthed and unmasked” (sic). Purohit
apparently, has a lot to unmask. Therefore, keeping him in jail without
trial and not giving him an opportunity to reveal what he claims to know is
as dangerous as Government’s wilful inaction on the explosive findings of
Vohra Committee Report.
Delay in Trial and Denial of Bail
It is nearly six years that Purohit has been in jail even
though thus far he has not been convicted of any offense nor has the ATS
managed to get any valid self indicting confession from him in relation to
any of the charges despite inhuman torture. No relief of any kind has come
his way despite appeals to PM Manmohan Singh, the Army Chief as well as the
Home Minister of India. To quote again from his letter of 30 May 2014 to PM
Narendra Modi:
From 2008 November the case was ‘pretentiously’ investigated
by the ATS till March- April 2011 before getting it handed over to the
National Investigation Agency (NIA). Ever since March-April 2011 the NIA
has apprehended two new accused in the case but have not filed a charge
sheet in this regard. Neither have they committed if they, the NIA, are
adopting the fabricated line of investigation conducted by the ATS or
otherwise. My case for Bail is pending consideration in the Supreme Court
since past three
years and four months. Also my interim Bail application is yet to get
decided upon since past 14 months. With the investigations incomplete the
case is least likely to come-up for hearing. And with amount of evidence
available of blatant fabrication by ATS I doubt if it would ever come up
for the trial. Sir, at this stage what I most urgently need and crave for,
is liberty. I have my old mother, wife and two minor sons back home to look
after. I mention here with pride that out of 14 years of my active military
service, for 9 long years have I stayed away from my family serving our
Motherland in active field areas and no doubt, I would continue to do so
given an opportunity. However this life of imprisonment due to an
ostensibly investigated, but now clearly exposed of its fabrication, case
is no less than death to me. I am
confident about my innocence and it remains a matter of time before the
same comes to face yet I feel guilty of my proven professional integrity,
my undoubted patriotism and my insight and understanding of issues in the
interest of our beloved motherland which have led me to land myself behind
the bars. I remain the victim of perverted and unethical functioning,
declined morality of the ATS, wherein they have even filed the SIMI and ISI
presentations of official motive prepared by me as part of the charge sheet
there by exposing me to the grave danger at the hands of the anti National Elements.”
Indeed we live in a strange world whereby a known terrorist
and mass murderer like Ajmal Kasab is convicted after due process of law,
but the denial of due process trial to an Army Officer is not given even
cursory attention by the ‘Secular Brigade’. Had our media not lost the habit of carrying out fair and
independent investigations into the doings and mis-doings of government and
other powerful lobbies, Lt. Col Purohit’s plea for justice and warnings
against wilful sabotage of India’s intelligence networks would not have
gone unheeded for 6 long years.
Note: I obtained all the official
documents through Lt. Col. Purohit’s wife,
Aparna Purohit Posted on August 18, 2014
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