In the previous episode, we learned that a bench of two judges from Mumbai High Court had denied bail to the accused Lt. Col. Purohit in the Malegaon case in 2017, stating that his conversation with his retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay after the blasts indicated that he was very scared. The judges asked why Purohit was so nervous if he had entered Abhinav Bharat as a spy? Why didn’t he go and tell the police or the army that I am a spy and I have so-and-so infromation?
By Nirendra Nagar
Let us go through the discussions that took place between Purohit and Upadhyay on October 23, 2008, amidst the rumours of Pragya Singh Thakur’s arrest and the news of her revealing all the secrets. These are the conversations that led the learned judges to believe that Purohit was involved in these explosions. This entire conversation was overheard and recorded by the ATS and is part of the chargesheet.
On October 23, 2008, Lt Col Purohit speaks with retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay a number of times. The first conversation took place at 11:23 AM, in which Purohit said that Pragya’s secret was out. He says, ‘the cat is out of the bag … as far as Mr. Singh is concerned.’
There may be two reasons why he refers to Pragya Singh as Mr. Singh.
Either he did not know that Pragya is a woman or a man because she always dressed as a man. Secondly, it is possible that in the meetings of Abhinav Bharat, members were introduced by half or fake names. Throughout the conversation, Pragya Singh is referred as Mr. Singh or just Singh, never mentioning her by name, although the context of the conversation makes it clear that they are talking about Pragya only because the ATS had, at that time, detained ‘Pragya Singh, who resides in Indore,’ and no one else with the surname Singh.
Find below the main part of this conversation which lasted about five and a half minutes.
Mr. Singh’s secret has been exposed …
Purohit: Jai Bharat.
Upadhyay: Sir, Jai Bharat. Yes?
Purohit: Sir, have you read today’s headlines of Times of India and Indian Express?
Upadhyay: I read that they are blaming the Indore Hindu Jagran Manch for the Modasa and Malegaon blasts.
Purohit: I mean Mr. Singh… (repeats) Mr. Singh.
Upadhyay: Alright.
Purohit: This means that as far as Mr. Singh is concerned, his secret is out.
Upadhyay: Alright, which news were you talking about? Please tell me.
Purohit: It’s the same, Sir. Is that clear?
Upadhyay: The same?
Purohit: Yes, Sir.
In this conversation, Upadhyay, based on information received from his sources about the police investigation so far seems to believe that ATS has not found much yet and is just making wild guesses. According to him, if the police had found something solid, they would have said that a certain person from the Hindu Jagran Manch in Indore is involved and we have arrested him, but they are only saying that they have apprehended 30 people from Hindu Jagran Manch. Upadhyay concluded that the police are keeping their eyes open and are still waiting for more information.
But Upadhyay’s assessment of the situation was completely wrong, and he had no idea that the police had already found out a lot by then, and even at that moment, his conversation with Purohit was being tapped. However, Lt. Col Purohit was more cautious During this conversation, he suggested to Major Upadhyay several times to change his SIM, but he was fully confident of his analysis. Read on for the intriguing conversation.
Now we must be very careful
Upadhyay: My understanding is that they have not yet gotten to the bottom of the matter.
Purohit: Alright, Sir. I have a suggestion for you…
Upadhyay: Yes…
Purohit: That you should get a new SIM for yourself.
Upadhyay: Look, if they had gotten to the bottom of the matter, they would say that a case has been registered against the accused, this person has been arrested, he will be presented in court on such-and-such charges, and MCOCA will be imposed… etc… etc.
Purohit: Yes, Sir.
Upadhyay: This is called solid action.
Purohit: Absolutely right, absolutely right Sir. So I was suggesting to you Sir that…
Upadhyay: Yes?
Purohit: That you should get a new SIM for yourself.
Upadhyay: Another one?
Purohit: SIM card.
Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: It should not be in your name.
Upadhyay: Alright.
Purohit: Do that immediately, Sir.
Upadhyay: Okay, I will see to it.
Purohit: I will call you in the afternoon again at 2 o’clock.
Upadhyay: Alright.
Purohit: Yes, Sir.
Upadhyay: Is there any doubt about anything?
Purohit: No, Sir. But now we must be very careful.
Upadhyay: Yes, we will have to be careful. So you call me in the afternoon.
Purohit: Sir!
You saw how anxious Purohit was at the thought of Pragya being caught, and he suspected that their phones might be tapped. For this reason, he even advised Major Upadhyay to change his SIM card. Within a span of just ten days, two different sides of Purohit can be observed. On one hand, around a week ago, on October 14-15, he had verbally and in writing informed some army personnels that Pragya Singh and Indresh Kumar were involved in this incident. On the other hand, he seemed scared about what would happen if Pragya were to be arrested.
What can be inferred from this? Who was the REAL Mr. Purohit?
Let’s move forward to the plans Purohit and Upadhyay make about their next steps as new information pour in throughout the day. As per previous conversation Purohit was to call Upadhyay at 2 pm, but he didn’t, either because he was in his class or possibly his mobile battery was discharged. He could make that call only after 4 pm.
Throughout the day, Major Upadhyay’s eyes were glued to the TV screen, and he informs Purohit about the commotion that took place in Rajya Sabha regarding this matter. He also mentions that media persons have gathered outside the ATS office and want to know if anyone from Surat has been arrested.
But since there was no confirmation till then, they made out that ATS had not received any specific leads. They believed that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was spreading such rumours to deflate Raj Thackeray’s agitation. After that, around 6 o’clock, Purohit calls Upadhyay again. He was very anxious and troubled. The entire conversation went something like this.
Singh has spilled a lot
Purohit: Sir, good evening.
Upadhyay: Good evening.
Purohit: Sir, I was trying to talk to you. Didn’t you receive my missed call?
Upadhyay: No.
Purohit: I just found out that Singh has revealed quite a lot. Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: The situation is very tense. Your name hasn’t come up…
Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: But my name can come up.
Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: This is my last call from this phone. I will give you another number from which I called you yesterday.
Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: After that, it will be switched off.
Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: I will tell all the people in the organisation not to talk to me.
Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: They will talk to you or Sudhakar instead of me.
Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: I am feeling a bit of pressure and tension now.
Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: Right now I am under solid pressure.
Upadhyay: Look, if someone has come to meet me, then surely my name must have come up as well. There’s no doubt about that because if it weren’t so, why would someone come to my home?
Purohit: Yes Sir, but it is true that your name must have come up because you are the head of the organisation.
Upadhyay: May be. Whatever the reason, the investigation has definitely begun.
Purohit: Yes.
Upadhyay: The beginning of the investigation means we will have to be cautious.
Purohit: Absolutely.
Upadhyay: And…
Purohit: By God’s grace our mutual closeness, intimacy, and opportunities to meet in this group have been very, very limited – point number one. Point number two – we haven’t had conversations over the phone for months or years.
Upadhyay: Yes.
Purohit: And there is no possibility of someone ever imagining in their dream that we are in contact with each other.
Upadhyay: That’s correct.
Purohit …which could create any doubt, either directly or indirectly.
Upadhyay: That’s correct. And my understanding is that Singh has taken your name, this is confirmed.
Purohit: Yes, this is now confirmed.
Upadhyay: Okay. Singh has taken your name, but it is certain that they won’t be able to trace you immediately.
Purohit: Sir.
Upadhyay: Whether you are here or there, or wherever you are, it is difficult to trace your name and address, so this cannot happen immediately. Sudhakar has changed his number. So it doesn’t seem likely he will be able to contact you directly. There is still this safety factor, and thirdly, your name is nowhere in the organisation.
Purohit: Sir.
Upadhyay: So, there is still this safety factor, but naturally, some problems will arise.
Purohit: Sir.
Upadhyay: Now, to tackle this, my suggestion is that we hire a lawyer. I had a feeling for some unknown reasons that there would definitely be some trouble and we would need to handle it.
After this, both of them discuss a lawyer named Y. P. Singh. Purohit says that he will ask Ajay Rahirkar for the lawyer’s address and inform everyone. Additionally, Ramesh Upadhyay also talks about money. Purohit had already suggested to him that he should get a new SIM. In the end, Purohit says that he will call in an hour.
But Purohit calls three to four hours later at 9 pm. By then, Purohit and Upadhyay seem to have been back to normal and talk about their future planning. Both of them feel that the police are only keeping an eye on Major Upadhyay and have not found any evidence. They believe that the police do not know about Purohit’s whereabouts. However, to avoid any further risk, it is decided that Purohit will completely sever ties with the organisation and Major Ramesh Upadhyay will take on all the responsibilities. Read on to find out how the conversation went on.
Now you will have to handle my job
Upadhyay: You should sleep peacefully at night. Right? Since my name has come up and they must have my number too, they will be keeping an eye on me. One should assume that this will happen.
Purohit: Yes Sir. A little more caution and a little more patience, these are the two guiding principles.
Upadhyay: Yes, these are the two things, and we must be a little prepared as well. Everything will be fine once you have a chat with Ajay Rahirkar. Please…
Purohit: Yes Sir, Ajay (Rahirkar) will call me in half an hour. Upadhyay: I am in a hurry; before they or anyone else gets a whiff of this, I want to get things sorted out, as you know. Ha-ha-ha.
Purohit: Yes, Sir.
Upadhyay: I am very organised in my work.
Purohit: You should be.
Upadhyay: Okay.
Purohit: Considering what has happened so far, this is a second warning for me to move on in the same way as we have decided and I should control my overzealousness. I believe you will agree with me, and under the working procedure, you will now have to take on that job. This will surely increase your workload.
Upadhyay: It is necessary for me to take on this responsibility to keep you safe.
Plan to Save Oneself
After this, Upadhyay talks about a plan under which he will write a letter to the Superintendent of Police of Pune (Rural) stating that since he was working against religious conversion, he is at a risk from Christian and Muslim organisations, and he should be provided with 24-hour security. He guessed that this would send a message to the police that he himself was requesting police supervision – if he had something to hide, why would he ask for police protection!
Upadhyay: We will benefit from this because we are open ourselves and we have nothing to hide. Ha-ha-ha.
Purohit: Absolutely right. I was saying the same thing. Identifying oneself as a socio-political organisation is indeed the best way.
These conversations took place on the 23rd October. We do not know if Purohit was able to sleep peacefully that night because all his talks were being monitored and recorded by the Mumbai ATS.
The next day, on October 24, Pragya was arrested, and the Army Chief in Delhi was informed that one of his officers is linked to this case. After that, Col Rajeev Srivastava was sent to Pachmarhi, and what happened next is something we have already read in the initial parts of this series.
In the seven parts so far, we have learned what evidence the ATS has regarding Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Purohit and others.
Currently, both Pragya and Purohit are out on bail, but both are facing trial in the NIA court in Mumbai which is expected to give its verdict on 8th May 2025.
In the next part, which will be the final chapter of this series, we will learn about the conclusions drawn by the ATS initially and later by the NIA based on the arrest and interrogation of Pragya Singh Thakur, Prasad Shreekant Purohit, Ramesh Upadhyay, and eight others, and what charges the NIA court framed against them on October 30, 2018.
(The author has been editor to Nav Bharat Times website)
(…to be continued…)
