Malegaon blasts: Two ex-army men held

Mumbai, Oct 24: On Saturday, Oct 25 a team of Mumbai police Anti Terror Squad(ATS) arrested two retired Armymen in connection with Malegaon blasts. This have brought new twist in to the probe. The identities of the men being questioned in Pune were not revealed. Senior ATS officials in Mumbai and Pune refused to give details.The investigators said that Hindu groups were behind the bomb blast which occured on Sep 29 in Malegaon killing five persons.

R R Patil, the Home Minister of Maharashtra confirmed that the police were questioning two retired army officials in connection with the blast. On Friday, Oct 24 three people including a Sadhvi, Purna Chetanand alias Pragya Singh Thakur, Shamlal Sahu and Shivnarayan Gopalsingh Kalsangra were held in connection with the case. It was revealed in the probe that the motorcycle which was used in the bomb blast belong to Pragya Singh Thakur.

Police sources revealed that Sadhvi Chetanand is a former office bearer of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Durga Vahini, while Sahu and Kalsangra are affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Sahu, who owned a mobile telephone shop and Kalsangra had started an organisation called the Rashtriya Jagran Manch in Indore. Of these three persons, two were arrested from Indore and the Sadhvi was arrested from Surat in Gujarat.

The two retired army officers, one of them said to be of the rank of a retired Major, are reportedly being questioned and also are said to be part of a RSS group of ex-servicemen and had allegedly imparted knowledge about explosives to those involved in the blasts.

OneIndia News