God Help Any Army Officer Who is Picked up by Police: Lt Col Purohit

New Delhi: Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit, who was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, for the first time spoke about the torture he was subjected to while he was in jail for nine long years.

In a video, accessed by CNN-News18, Colonel Purohit could be seen interacting with a fellow officer during a medical checkup, a few months before the apex court granted him bail.

"First, they beat me for 5-7 days. Then, they left me alone for two days so that the swelling subsided," Purohit said, adding that he was "thrashed again for 8-9 days".

Colonel Purohit, a serving Army officer, was on November 4, 2008 arrested by the Maharashtra ATS in connection with 2008 Malegaon blasts.

The Colonel had remained in jail for almost a decade, and his earlier plea for bail was rejected by the Bombay High Court.

Recounting his ordeal, Purohit said that they hung him upside down, continued beating him, "despite realising that my leg was broken".

However, initially, it was not established if Colonel Purohit was indeed tortured. "The JJ hospital report said there was nothing wrong with me," Purohit said, "when I got a court order and got more tests done, it was proved that I was tortured."

Colonel Purohit recalls with a shudder the treatment meted out to him by the Maharashtra Anti-terror Squad. It was worse than, according to him, the way "even the terrorists were treated".

"You remember how we dealt with those three people who had crossed the border? There is a proper way to interrogate terror suspects," Purohit told his fellow officer.

He alleged that the ATS was enjoying "beating up" an army officer. "They wanted to have fun at my expense. God help any army officer who gets picked up by police."

Lt. Colonel Purohit was accused of stealing 60 kg of RDX from the army. He was also accused of funding and training Abhinav Bharat, an extreme right-wing organisation, believed to be behind the 2008 Malegaon blast which killed 7 people.

He denied doing any such thing saying that their (army personnel) bags were checked every time they left. "All our bags would be turned upside down. After a thorough check only," he said, "we would be allowed to get into our cars."