New Delhi: Nine years after being accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit finally donned the army uniform after being granted bail by the Supreme Court
The Lt Col got bail on August 24 and walked out of jail after spending close to a decade inside and reported to a Southern Command Liaison Unit in Mumbai.
Earlier, Army sources said a call would be taken on whether he can wear his uniform or not.
Purohit was suspended from service soon after he was arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast case in late 2008.
After coming out prison, Purohit had said: “I want to wear my uniform. It is outermost layer of my skin. I am wedded to it. I am very happy to get back into the service of the best organization in the country if not the world, the Indian Army.” “I have two families — the Army and my family which includes my wife, my two sons, sister and mother. I cannot wait to return to them.”
He was granted bail with few conditions — he won’t leave the country without prior permission from the court and that his passport must be deposited to the court.
Purohit was also directed to appear in the court as and when he will be directed. In addition to it, he must make himself available for any investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and A M Sapre had said that they were setting aside the April 25 order of Bombay High Court by which the bail was denied.
Six people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008 at Malegaon, a communally sensitive textile town in Nashik district of north Maharashtra.
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