Indian army officer arrested over deadly bombing

[Al-zakir]

Wed Nov 5, 6:14 am ET
NEW DELHI (Reuters) –

An army officer was arrested on Wednesday in connection with bomb blasts in two western towns that killed five people and were blamed on a Hindu militant group, a government lawyer said.

Officers from the anti-terrorism squad in Mumbai questioned lieutenant-colonel Srikant Purohit, a Hindu, for days before finally arresting him.

"He was arrested this morning and is being produced in court," said Ajay Misar, a government lawyer acting in the case.

The officer is accused of helping Hindu militants with bomb-making and other logistics in the attack in the Muslim-dominated towns of Malegaon and Modasa in September.

A retired soldier was also questioned in the case, which has embarrassed the army.

Three other people, all Hindus, had already been arrested in connection with the Sept. 29 attacks.

For years, bomb attacks in India have mostly been blamed on Islamist militants. Even attacks on mosques were often blamed on Islamists seeking to spark communal tensions between India's majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

Muslim leaders have accused authorities of conducting a witch hunt and reinforcing stereotypes about their community after dozens of Muslims were detained following a string of bomb attacks across the country this year.

In August, two suspected Hindu militant fundamentalists died while trying to build a bomb in the northern town of Kanpur.


This is ODD
I thought Pakistan or Bangladesh always involve with boom blasts in India????

 

[was]

i was really sick of indian propoganda against isi now have a look



Indian officer held over blasts
Site of the Malegaon blast
Police said the attacks were the work of 'terrorists'

Police in India have arrested an army officer in connection with two bombings in Maharashtra state which killed at least eight people in September.

The blasts happened in the mainly Muslim towns of Malegaon and Modasa.

Police say Prasad Shrikant Purohit is accused of providing logistical support for Hindu militants to make bombs.

Correspondents say it may be the first time a serving Indian army officer has been arrested and accused of having links to Hindu militants.

At least nine other people - including a retired army major, Ramesh Upadhyay - have already been detained in the case.

Officers from the anti-terrorism squad in the western city of Mumbai (Bombay) questioned Lt-Col Purohit for several days before finally arresting him.

"He was arrested this morning and is being produced in court," Ajay Misar, a government lawyer acting in the case, told Reuters news agency.

Lt-Col Purohit appeared in court later on Wednesday and was remanded in custody.

The Press Trust of India reported that he was detained last week at the Army Education Corps Training College in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

There was no immediate response from the army.

Violent protests

At least five people were killed in the blast near a mosque in Malegaon, about 260km (160 miles) from Mumbai. A sixth died later of injuries sustained in the blast.

More than 100 people, including policemen, were also injured.

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Two people were killed in the explosion in Modasa, a town in the neighbouring state of Gujarat.

India has been hit by a number of explosions in recent weeks, many of them blamed on local Muslim militants.

Two years ago, at least 37 people were killed and more than 125 others injured in bombings at a Muslim graveyard in Malegaon.

The government said at the time of the most recent blasts that its main concern was to stop religious violence from flaring up again.


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