Purohit in judicial custody, files bail plea

MUMBAI: Two key accused in the Malegoan blast case, Lt Col Shrikant Purohit (the first serving army officer to be arrested in a terror case) and Ajay Rahirkar (treasurer of Abhinav Bharat), on Saturday filed a bail application in the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court.
The bail application stated that the stringent MCOCA couldn't be applied on them as they had no criminal background.The application also said they had nothing to do with the case and the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) had no evidence to keep them in custody.
Judge Y D Shinde has asked the prosecution to file a reply to the bail application by December 16.
The special court remanded Purohit and Rakesh Dhawade to judicial custody after the ATS told the court that the investigation was on and it didn't need their custody at this juncture. The remand application
also said the prosecution reserved the right to convert the judicial custody into police custody if further interrogation was necessary. The court, accepting the prosecution's contention, remanded Purohit and Dhawade to judicial custody till December 16.
The court also allowed Purohit to be subjected to an MRI scan. Purohit had earlier alleged that the ATS continuously hit him on his previously operated leg and a scan could show signs of torture. But defence advocate Shrikant Shivade said JJ Hospital doctors said conducting an MRI scan might further dislocate the joints of the leg.
"But how is that possible?
An MRI scan is just a diagnosis and not a treatment,'' Shivade argued.
The court then asked Purohit whether he was ready to undergo a scan at his own risk and, following a positive response from him, the court directed an MRI scan be conducted at the army's Ashwini Hospital; Purohit's lawyer argued that he had more faith in an army hospital than a civilian one.
kartikeya.tripathi@timesgroup.com