Another Witness - an Army Officer - Turns Hostile in 2008 Blast Case

The officer is the 34th witness to turn hostile in the case. Purohit, a serving Army officer, has claimed that he joined the right-wing organization Abhinav Bharat only for his work in Military Intelligence and had been reporting the matter to his superiors. However, the investigating agency claims that he knew about the blast and was part of the conspiratorial meetings. Recently, the Bombay High Court asked why Purohit did not prevent the blast if attending conspiratorial meetings was part of his job. The 34th witness, who had previously spoken about Abhinav Bharat and Purohit's involvement with it to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), has now denied all the contents of his ATS statement in court. He claimed that his statement was recorded by the ATS at gunpoint and he was pressured under threat that he would be made an accomplice in the case. The trial has seen more than 300 witnesses so far, and only around 20 witnesses are left to be brought by the NIA to prove their case against the seven accused. A bomb strapped to a motorcycle, allegedly belonging to Sadhvi Pragya, went off at Bhiku Chowk in Malegaon, killing six people and injuring many more.