On Sunday, December 18, members of a Pune-based Muslim organisation Mulnivasi Muslim Manch and Bhim Army staged a protest against the launch of ‘Lt Colonel Purohit: The Man Betrayed?’. The book is about Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit, who was falsely implicated in the Malegaon Blast Case during the UPA Government’s tenure.
According to reports, the Muslim organisation and Bhim Army held demonstrations against the book on the SP college premises, the location of the book launch. Meanwhile, Hindu Mahasangh members came out in support of the book. Cops detained members from both sides and released them only after the event.
The book, written by Smita Mishra was launched at the SP College in Pune, Maharashtra on December 18, Sunday. It was released by retired IPS officer and former Pune police commissioner Jayant Umranikar. Author Smita Mishra, publisher Renu Kaul Verma, retired Major Gaurav Arya and others were present on the occasion.
The Muslim organisation and members of the Bhim Army, meanwhile, staged a protest during the day demanding the cancellation of the book launch event. The protest was reportedly launched after their plea to the SP College authorities to cancel the event did not elicit a response.
The organisations claimed that it was inappropriate to hold such an event when the trial in the case was underway. “It is inappropriate to hold such an event to launch a book such as this when the trial in the Malegaon blast case is underway. Our protest is against Purohit,” Mulnivasi Muslim Manch president Anjum Inamdar said.
The 2008 Malegaon blast case and how Lt. Col. Purohit was maliciously framed
On September 29, 2008, bomb blasts took place in the Malegaon region of the Nashik district of Maharashtra which resulted in 6 deaths and 100 injuries.
Soon, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Purohit were arrested in connection with the blast. They continued languishing in jails till 2017, when they were finally granted bail in April and August respectively. The then UPA government and the left-wing media at that time continuously labelled Lt Col Purohit as a traitor to further their agenda of establishing the idea of ‘Hindu Terror.’
Many reports and statements by former bureaucrats had, however, pointed out that Lt Col Purohit was maliciously framed, with planted ‘evidence’, to fan the imaginary ‘saffron terror’ narrative and distract the public from the scams of the Congress-led government.
It is important to note that one of the accused, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, had told the NIA court in 2017 that the Mumbai ATS tried to frame the then BJP MP Yogi Adityanath and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at the behest of the Congress-NCP government.
In 2018, Republic TV accessed an official letter by the Army which also revealed that the then UPA government deliberately framed Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit despite having information that he was on duty and was gathering intelligence.
Further, in the year 2021, one of the witnesses made similar statements against the Maharashtra ATS. The witness told the Special NIA court that he was threatened, tortured, and kept in illegal custody by the Mumbai ATS and forced to take the names of five Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members including Yogi Adityanath, Indresh Kumar, Deodhar, and Kakaji.
