Purohit remanded to police custody in forgery case

Pune, Nov 19 (UNI) Lt Col Prasad Purohit, a suspect in the Malegaon bomb blast case, was produced before a local court today in connection with a forgery case for obtaining a revolver for Shirish Date, a city-based arms expert, and remanded to police custody till tomorrow.

First Class Judicial magistrate (JFMC) G G Itkalkar remanded him in police custody till tomorrow. While seeking police custody of Purohit, public prosecutor Urvekar told court it is necessary to prove his role for obtaining the revolver licence by submitting a fake document.

Defence lawayer Shrikant Shivde, arguing on behalf of Purohit, told the court that Date possessed the rovolver since 2005 and if it is without valid license why did ATS not arrest Date, which is a more serious offence.

Shivede told the court that Purohit had participated in many military operations including operation Vijay and Opetation Rashak.

He had performed his duty in an outstanding manner. Purohit had killed many terrorists dispite his being branded anti-national, he questioned.

The ISI, SIMI and Anti-national organistaions may be happy about Purohit's arrest, Shivde told the court.

By demanding Police custody again and again, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Shivde alleged, just wanted to show Purohit is a member of organised crime syndicate so that they can easily book him under MOCOCA.

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