Mumbai, Dec 30: In an explosive twist to the Malegaon terror attack case, a former anti-terrorism squad (ATS) cop has claimed that two key accused in the 2008 incident have been killed by police but still shown as 'missing' in official records.
Hindutva extremists Ramchandra Kalsangre and Sandeep Dange, who are currently shown as wanted, were in fact killed by ATS officials on December 26, 2008, claimed suspended police inspector Mehboob Mujawar. He also said that the bodies of the slain terror accused were disposed of with 26/11 terror attack victims.
Mr Mujawar was deputed by the Director General of Police's office to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team probing the Malegaon blasts, which left eight people dead and scores injured. He was part of the team till March 2009 and his job was to gather intelligence.
The allegation, which can prove to be embarrassing for the Maharashtra ATS, has been made in an affidavit filed by Mujawar, who was suspended after two cases – one of disproportionate assets and the other under the Arms Act --were filed against him before the Solapur Magistrate's Court earlier this month.
The Solapur Magistrate's Court is hearing the two cases against Mujawar, who has sought a discharge, claiming that he is being victimised for complaining against the officers involved in eliminating Dange and Kalsangra to SS Virk, the then Director General of Police in 2009.
Mujawar has, however, not named any police officers in the affidavit. He said he would reveal the officers' identities before the court. “A terror suspect whom I had caught in connection with the Malegaon blasts from Jalgaon was allowed to go scot free, whereas Kalsangra and Dange were taken into custody the same day as Sadhvi Pragya Thakur. Kalsangra and Dange were taken to Nashik and from there they were taken to Mumbai, where they were killed in custody,” he said.
Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Colonel Shrikant Purohit, who were arrested on conspiracy charges in the case, are currently in jail.
Mujawar was advised to file the affidavit by social activist Neeraj Gunde, whom the police officer had approached for advice on the two cases filed against him.
Mujawar has claimed that Kalsangra and Dange's bodies were marked as “unidentified victims of 26/11 terror attacks” and disposed of. “When we checked the pictures of those bodies, there were a lot of similarities with the absconding accused,” said Gunde.
Two police officers ACP Rajan Ghule and Police Inspector Ramesh More, who were part of the Malegaon blasts investigation, already stand accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation of abducting a certain Dilip Patidar from Indore.
Patidar was made a witness in the Malgaon blasts case and picked up from his residence in Indore for questioning by an ATS team led by Ghule and More. Patidar was brought to Mumbai, but never reached home. Kalsangra was Patidar's tenant in Indore.
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