Mumbai: The kin of 2008 Malegaon blast victims have written to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against a book ‘Lt Col The Man Betrayed?”, calling it “nothing but a parallel trial” to create a narrative that Lr Col Prasad Purohit is innocent and that the agencies have falsely implicated him.
Through their lawyer Shahid Nadeem, the kin pointed out that the matter is sub-judice, with witnesses being examined on a day-to-day basis. It said that in this organised manner some people are running propaganda against the prosecuting agencies and seeking sympathy for Lt Col Purohit. It has sought that the NIA take action to prevent the launch of the book and its circulation. It has sought that the NIA’s prosecutor move a plea before the trial court to that effect. Notably, senior retired IPS officers who have served as former police commissioners in Pune and/or Mumbai – Jayant Umranikar, Satyapal Singh and Sanjay Barve – have been mentioned as personalities launching the book written by journalist Smita Mishra.
