Sadhvi held for Malegaon blasts has Surat kin

Surat: This sanyasin used to speed past Surat roads on bike times news network Surat/Bhopal: Pragya Singhs name does not strike a familiar note for most. But whenever she visited the diamond city, this 36-year-old sanyasin zoomed past Surats roads on her bike! The sanyasin, who was arrested along with two others in the Malegaon blasts case, had lived in Surat for four years before embracing renunciation two years ago.Pragya was picked up from Surat by Mumbai anti-terrorist squad (ATS) for questioning.
On Friday, she and two others Shamlal Sahu and Shivnarayan Singh were slapped with murder charges after being produced in Nasik court that remanded them in police custody till November 3. The sanyasin and her father Chandrapal Singh Thakur had shifted to Surat six years ago from Lahar village of Bhind district in Madhya Pradesh. Pragnas father lives in Puna Gaam area and is an Ayurvedic doctor in Tapi Baug society on Varachha road, Surat.
Talking to TOI, Chandrapal Singh said, "ATS officials informed me that they found a vehicle at Malegaon blast site which is registered in Pragyas name. The scooter which police were asking about was sold by Pragya four years back, but it is possible that it might not have been transferred in the name of buyer, in government records." Pragya, a resident of Gwalior was a popular leader of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad till 1997. She worked for the student outfit in Ujjain and Indore. However, she left the organisation to take sanyas after becoming a disciple of religious guru Avdeshanand Giri.
ABVP national general secretary Vishnu Dutt Sharma recalled: "Out of the five persons arrested, only Pragya was with ABVP. She was in the state executive council and was very active till 1997. After that she left ABVP and became a follower of Avdeshanand Giri. In 2006, she took sanyas during the Kumbh in Allahabad. "After sanyas, she visited various parts of the country. We have no contact with her since she took sanyas," her father in Surat said. �� Chandrapal Singh believes that his daughter has not done anything wrong. "I believe if she has done wrong she will face the consequences, or else she will come out clean," he said.