Malegaon probe: Purohit's laptop might reveal further details

Mumbai, Nov 13 (PTI) The missing laptop computer of Lt.
Col. Prasad Purohit, a key accused in the Malegaon blast case,
has been found and is expected to reveal crucial details about
involvement of other persons in the conspiracy, police sources
said here Thursday.

The computer was initially not found after the detention
of Purohit from central India's hill station Panchmarhi in
Madhya Pradesh and is suspected to contain details of other
members of the right wing group Abhinav Bharat who could have
had a role to play in the Malegaon blast.

It is also suspected to contain details of persons who
had undergone training in camps organised by Purohit and
others and details of the monetary transactions that were
carried out by members of the group, the sources said.

However, Anti-Terrorist Squad (A.T.S.) officials refused
to comment on the issue saying it was still too early to
reveal any details. They also refused to comment on where the
computer would be taken for forensic analysis.

Authorities at the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory
(F.S.L.) in country's western part suburban Santacruz said
they had not yet received the computer for forensic analysis.

Ten persons have been arrested so far for their alleged
involvement in carrying out a blast in Malegaon on September
29 in which six persons were killed and about 80 injured.

One of the arrested in the Malegaon case, Ajay Rahirkar,
had allegedly received funds through 'hawala channels' which
were then disbursed among others at the behest of Purohit,
A.T.S. officials had said.

Investigators hoped to find the details of the
transactions in the laptop.

Rahirkar, a functionary of the Abhinav Bharat group, had
also allegedly supplied money for purchase of six imported
weapons to Rakesh Dhawade, who has also been arrested in the
Malegaon case.

Dhawade, an expert in guns, has also been arrested for
his involvement in the 2004 Jalna blast after evidence emerged
of his presence during weapons training provided prior to the
blast.

The A.T.S. is also probing the possible involvement of
Purohit and other members of the group in previous terror acts
like the Nanded blast in 2006 and the Jalna blast.

The A.T.S. Wednesday arrested seer Dayanand Pandey, head
of the Sharda Sarvagya Peeth in Jammu, from northern part of
the country Kanpur in connection with the Malegaon blast case.

Pandey, who is also known as Sadhu Amritanand, hails from
Uttar Pradesh and was residing in Ravatpur village in Kanpur.
He was arrested on the basis of photographs and telephone
numbers that the A.T.S. was investigating.

The seer is likely to be produced in court in Uttar
Pradesh (U.P.) after which he will be brought to Mumbai,
A.T.S. officials said.

The A.T.S. had taken permission from a Nasik court on
Monday to interrogate Pandey and had said the seer is accused
of being part of the conspiracy to carry out the Malegaon
blast.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon
blast case, is alleged to have provided the motorcycle used to
plant the bomb at Bhiku chowk in the powerloom town. PTI AG
AM