Table of Contents
Lieutenant Colonel Purohit is a name related to many controversies in the country. He was the one who was accused of the 2008 bomb blast case in Malegaon. But later on, the Bombay High Court said he was an “unsung hero of the Indian Army.” He has spent a long period of 9 years in prison as an undertrial for a crime he did not commit.
Life of Lieutenant Purohit
Born in a middle-class and rich-cultured Maharashtrian family in Pune, Purohit completed his schooling at the Abhinav Vidyalaya and graduated from Garware College in the same city.
After graduation, Purohit completed his Officer’s Training Academy training in Chennai and got commissioned into the Maratha Light Infantry. He got a posting in Jammu & Kashmir, but he got downgraded due to his medical conditions. Later on, he got transferred to Military Intelligence.
During 2002-2005, Colonel Shrikant was a part of many counter-terrorism operations in Jammu & Kashmir. He was in MI- 25 or the Intelligence Field Security. The role of MI-25 was to watch out for the enemy along the border.
When Purohit was posted at Deolali in Maharashtra as a liaison unit officer, he came in touch with Ramesh Upadhyay- a retired major. Upadhyay set up the Abhinav Bharat- the Hindutva group and made Purohit join the group. Major Ramesh is also in jail due to the Malegaon case only.
The Dark Side
In his early years, Purohit was also involved in a case in which he was accused of stealing 60kg RDX, the one used in the Malegaon blast. He was also defamed for funding and training Hindu extremist groups like Abhinav Bharat, which happened to be involved with planning and executing the Malegaon blast 2008.
Not only this but Colonel Purohit was also stationed at the Army Education Corps and Training Center when police caught him sending SMSes to Upadhyay in the Arabic language. Police decoded the SMSes sent in Arabic and found they were related to the Malegaon blast.
Purohit got prisoned for his practices and was dismissed from his service to the Indian Army as he was charged with the blast that involved the death of six people and many injuries. Last year, Purohit appealed in the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), seeking to cancel the Court of Enquiry because of the violation of Army Act 180. He mentioned that many witnesses were questioned without his presence in the room and leaving the chance of cross-examination.
He also sent a complaint in 2009 to the Indian Army Chief that military intelligence officials victimized him. Purohit stated that he alerted military intelligence about the Hindu radicals in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. He said that he gathered the information during his Deolali tenure.
In short, only the higher officers know which facts are right and which are wrong.
Lt. Col Shrikant Purohit to Rejoin The Indian Army After 9 Years
According to the sources, Col Shrikant Purohit got his bail in 2008 for the Malegaon Blast Case and is ready to join the Indian Army again. He is allowed to serve the army until any verdict comes.
After his release, Lt. Purohit will go to his last posting location i.e. Army Centre of Education’s Training College & Centre at Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. He will be getting his new place of joining by the Army Headquarters which is likely to be in Nashik, Pune or Mumbai. Although, he will be placed under “open arrest” restriction that involves confinement to move outside the officer’s camp.