11-17-2008, 12:40 AM
The Army is not silent. Indian Express reports;-
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THE Army has been baffled by the ATS statement in a Nashik court that Lt Col Purohit, the serving military intelligence officer who has been arrested for the Malegaon blast, procured 60 kg of RDX in Jammu and Kashmir that could have been used in the Samjhauta and Malegaon blasts.
While the Army will investigate the claims and is looking at Purohit's service record to see whether he had access to the explosives, sources said it would be very difficult for the officer to procure the RDX and transport it out of the state.
In the statement in court, the ATS said Purohit went to Jammu and Kashmir on duty in 2006 while he was posted at Deolali and procured the RDX that he claims to have disposed in the Jhelum river.
The ATS has not yet shared information on Purohit's statement with the Defence Ministry but officers say RDX is an explosive that is not used by the Army and never stored in cantonments.
"RDX in a pure form is not used by the Army. It may be a part of ammunition like shells or grenades but is never stored in that form," a senior Army officer said, adding that a series of checks and balances were in place to ensure that explosives are not taken out of stores.
However, the Army has not ruled out the possibility of Purohit gaining access to RDX seized during anti terror operations even though it says that "all explosives recovered during operations are destroyed on the spot or handed over to the police".
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THE Army has been baffled by the ATS statement in a Nashik court that Lt Col Purohit, the serving military intelligence officer who has been arrested for the Malegaon blast, procured 60 kg of RDX in Jammu and Kashmir that could have been used in the Samjhauta and Malegaon blasts.
While the Army will investigate the claims and is looking at Purohit's service record to see whether he had access to the explosives, sources said it would be very difficult for the officer to procure the RDX and transport it out of the state.
In the statement in court, the ATS said Purohit went to Jammu and Kashmir on duty in 2006 while he was posted at Deolali and procured the RDX that he claims to have disposed in the Jhelum river.
The ATS has not yet shared information on Purohit's statement with the Defence Ministry but officers say RDX is an explosive that is not used by the Army and never stored in cantonments.
"RDX in a pure form is not used by the Army. It may be a part of ammunition like shells or grenades but is never stored in that form," a senior Army officer said, adding that a series of checks and balances were in place to ensure that explosives are not taken out of stores.
However, the Army has not ruled out the possibility of Purohit gaining access to RDX seized during anti terror operations even though it says that "all explosives recovered during operations are destroyed on the spot or handed over to the police".
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