Purohit in anti-terror squad's custody

Nashik: Malegaon bomb blast accused Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit was yesterday handed over to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Pune for his interrogation in a three-year-old case of beating up a Christian priest in Khadki near that city.

He will be produced before a court in Pune on Wednesday for police custody remand, Judge H.K. Ganatra of the chief judicial magistrate court here explained to him.

While another Malegaon blast suspect, Samir Kulkarni, has been accused of beating the priest and absconding after that, the Pune police want to probe Purohit's role in the case, the court was told.

Earlier, Mumbai ATS, which has been handling the Malegaon blast case, presented Purohit to the court and sought his magisterial custody on expiry of his police custody. A team of police from Pune had arrived to claim his custody in connection with the assault case in Khadki.

Purohit's transfer to the Pune police ensures that he remains available to the ATS even after the expiry of his maximum permissible police custody of 14 days.