Sena activist sues anti-terror squad for ill-treatment

Mumbai: A Shiv Sena activist filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court on Thursday seeking an inquiry into the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for its "ill-treatment" of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the accused in the Malegaon bomb blast case.

Petitioner Shilpa Deshmukh, Secretary, Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena, the students' wing of the Shiv Sena, told Gulf News that her PIL also sought the transfer of the case to the state Criminal Investigation Department in Pune. The petitioner has appealed for a judicial probe, either by a sitting or retired judge, into the "mishandling" of the case and "misbehaviour" with the accused in "terms of physical abuse" by the ATS.

A few days ago, Singh filed an affidavit before the Nashik court accusing ATS officers of "torturing" and harassing her in violation of human rights.

The PIL also seeks the court to direct the ATS not to talk to the media and ensure that a gag order is imposed on the investigating agency. Action has also been demanded against Director General of Police, Maharashtra, A N Roy, and ATS chief Hemant Karkare for their "biased, barbaric and prejudicial approach towards Hindu organisations and Sadhvi Pragya."

Charge

"ATS is soft-pedalling" its probe against Muslim organisations such as the Students Islamic Movement of India, says the PIL, and claims its investigation is therefore likely to be "doubtful".

Deshmukh added that the PIL has been admitted in the court and will come up for hearing in four days.

On September 29, the powerloom town of Malegaon, which has a dominant Muslim population, was rocked by a bomb blast that claimed six lives. The investigation, handed over to the ATS, has revealed the involvement of extremist Hindu groups.

Strict law invoked

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharshtra police has charged all the 10 accused in the Malegaon blast under a stringent law that will allow the authorities to keep them in detention for six months before having to file a chargesheet. The accused include Sadhvi Pragnya Chandrapal Singh Thakur and a serving army official, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad S. Purohit.

ATS chief Hemant Karkare said yesterday evening that all the 10 were being charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Under other sections of the law, the authorities would have had to file a charge sheet within 90 days.

Karkare said that investigations into the September 29 Malegaon blast, which left six dead and 20 injured, are on the verge of completion.

Karkare rejected the charge of any political pressure in the investigations. "There is no political pressure in the investigations into the Malegaon blast," he said.

The ATS said it has found a video which shows Sadhvi Pragnya, self-styled spiritual guru Dayanand Pandey and Sameer Kulkarni, leader of the Madhya Pradesh-based radical Hindu group, Abhinav Bharat, together on stage. The trio is currently under arrest and in judicial custody in connection with the Malegaon blast.

The video was taken on April 12, 2008, in Bhopal.