Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, who was granted conditional bail in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case on Monday, was released from Navi Mumbai’s Taloja Jail on Wednesday after nine years. He was escorted by Army vehicles as he made his way out of the prison.
It was earlier reported that Purohit may return to the same Army unit from where he was arrested. However, he will remain suspended from service till the final verdict in the case.
Officials said Purohit’s stay at his Army unit will be restricted as he will not be allowed to leave the Colaba Military Station in South Mumbai without permission. He will also have to report at the station every day and will be barred from attending any public event or gathering.
On Monday, the Supreme Court granted Purohit conditional bail, setting aside an earlier Bombay High Court judgment. The bench of justices RK Agrawal and AM Sapre had reserved its order on his interim bail plea on August 17, after the National Investigation Agency opposed it.
The accused had moved the apex court on April 28, days after the Bombay High Court rejected his bail plea. The High Court had granted relief to another accused in the case, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, but said that the charges against Purohit were of grave nature.
The blasts in Malegaon
Both Purohit and Pragya were arrested in 2008 on charges of plotting the explosions carried out by radical Hindutva group Abhinav Bharat.
On September 29, 2008, two blasts in Malegaon, Maharashtra, had killed at least six people and injured several others. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad had filed a chargesheet against 14 right-wing extremists, including Purohit and Thakur, in the case.
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