Activists meet SP College principal, cops to demand cancellation of event to launch book on Malegaon blast accused
A group of activists today submitted a letter to the Principal of the S P College and the Vishrambag police station asking them to stop the launch of the book ‘Lt Colonel Purohit: The Man Betrayed?’. The activists also warned of an agitation if the book launch event is not cancelled.
The book based on the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case accused, Indian Army officer Colonel Prasad Purohit, is being launched during a programme on December 18 at an auditorium inside the S P College at the hands of three former IPS officers — Jayant Umranikar, Satyapal Singh (BJP MP and former Union minister) and Sanjay Barve.
A bomb blast in Malegaon in Nashik on September 29, 2008 had left 10 persons dead and several others injured. Purohit, then a lieutenant colonel in the Army, was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) for his alleged role in the terror attack.
In January 2009, the ATS filed a chargesheet against 12 accused persons in this case. In 2011, the investigation of this case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Of the 12 accused, five were discharged and charges were framed against seven others, including Purohit and BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya, who are currently out on bail.
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PremiumA controversy had sparked last week after Shahid Nadeem, lawyer representing a victim, had sent an email to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking “appropriate action for preventing the book launch”.
Nadeem had claimed that this book launch event causes violation of a trial court order passed by special judge V S Padalkar on October 1, 2019, which stated: “Media, Journalists, Correspondents, shall not conduct debate, interview, interaction, discussion of any kind on subject matter, to print/publish/display the same in any whatsoever matter till the end of the trial.”
Today evening, Anjum Inamdar of the Mulnivasi Muslim Manch, Datta Pol of Bhima Army Bahujan Ekta Mission, along with activists Neeta Adsul, Panchasheel Pawar and Zubsair Memon went to the S P College on Tilak Road in Pune.
They submitted a letter to college principal Dr Sunil Gaikwad and Keshav Vaze, chairman of the S P College Vikas Samiti. Then they submitted a similar letter at the Vishrambag police station.
“This book is not related to any educational matters. We asked the college officials and police to stop the book launch. The police said it is an indoor programme and does not require permission. So, we have warned of agitation if the book launch event is not cancelled,” said Inamdar.
Inamdar added, “The trial of the Malegaon bomb blast case is on before a special (NIA) court in Mumbai. Under such circumstances, launching a book on a prime accused in this case is wrong and it sends the wrong message. So, we have warned of an agitation if the book launch programme is not cancelled.”
According to author Smita Mishra, the book does not cause any contempt of court as it is based on information that is already available in public domain and has nothing about the ongoing trial in the case.
