No other officer under ATS scanner: Army

No other officer under ATS scanner: Army
10 Nov 2008, 1932 hrs IST, Times Now

NEW DELHI: Army on Monday denied reports of growing number of its men in the terror nexus, according to Times Now . ( Watch )


The report said the Army clarified that no additional information has been sought by the Anti Terror Squad on any officer other than Lieutenant Colonel Purohit.

Caught on the backfoot after the arrest of Lieutenant Colonel Purohit, the Army has now claimed that the ATS had sought information about only one Armyman and that so far, no other request for details of any more officers or ex-servicemen have been received by the Army, Times Now said.

Army sources confirmed to Times Now that, it's in the Army's interest to give out all the details requested by the ATS. The Army does not want any rogue elements in its ranks. The Army has further corroborated, the ATS has only inquired about the antecedents of one officer that is Lieutenant Colonel Purohit, and all information about the Colonel has been furnished to the ATS.

The Army has reportedly mentioned, "We will certainly give out information if there are any requests about other officers."

Meanwhile, Purohit arrested in connection with the Malegaon blasts underwent a narco-analysis test on Monday in Bangalore. Times Now sources said that the Maharashtra ATS flew Purohit early on Monday morning to Bangalore for the narco- analysis. This comes days after a Nashik court allowed the ATS to conduct forensic tests on Purohit.

The first serving officer arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast has already confessed his role in the September 29 blast that killed six people. There are also reports that retired army officer Major Ramesh Upadhyay is also being put through narco tests shortly. In the meantime, in Mumbai, another person Sudhkar Chaturvedi is being interrogated for links with right wing group Abhinav Bharat, reports said.

Six persons were killed when a motorcycle bomb exploded in Malegaon on September 29. Nine persons, including a sadhvi and former army official, have been arrested so far for their involvement in the case. The role of Purohit, who was in the Military Intelligence, in the Nanded blast is still being probed with one of the prime accused still at large.