The interrogation of Malegaon blast suspect Lt Col Shrikant Purohit has led the Maharashtra ATS to look more closely at the “political views” of some of his colleagues in the Army. Reports disclosed that ATS has asked Army
authorities to closely scan the activities of a small group of officers, ranking from majors to colonels, while clarifying that it still did not have enough to link them to the conspiracy behind the September 29 blast in the powerloom town. The officers who have been put under surveillance appear to have a lot in common with Purohit. The officials are, like Purohit, from military intelligence who, again like the jailed officer, served at one point or the other at Deolali, Pune or Panchmarhi. From the information ATS has gathered from Purohit, ATS suspects that the officers – at least a couple of them who are from Maharashtra – might have been aware of both the Lt Col’s affiliation to Abhinav Bharat, as well as the “revenge” agenda of the Indore-based ultra-Hindutva organisation.