Malegaon blast case: ‘I am happy, want to return to my family, says Lt Col Purohit

A day after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit on Tuesday said he is happy to go back to his family. “I am very happy. I want to go back to my family. I have two families- the army and my family which includes my wife, my two sons, sister and mother. I cannot wait to return to them. I am a simple army man, I love my uniform. I will not comment on politicians and political parties”, Purohit said. After spending nine years in prison, Purohit got conditional bail from the Supreme Court on Monday. The apex court granted him bail observing that there were contradictions in the chargesheets filed by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The court said his “right to bail” cannot be denied merely because the “sentiments of the community” were “against” him. Purohit, along with Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, were among the key accused in the 2008 Malegaon bombing case in which seven people were killed. On the contradictions between the NIA and ATS chargesheets, the bench said these are “to be tested at the time of trial and this court cannot pick or choose one version over the other”. Purohit was arrested in November 2008. Reacting to the bail given to Purohit, Congress has accused Modi government of ‘protecting all RSS-connected accused’ in the Malegaon blast case.