ATS links Pandey to Abhinav Bharat funds

NASHIK: Dayanand Pandey, the self-styled seer arrested for his alleged involvement in the September 29 Malegaon blast, was remanded to police custody till November 26 by a Nashik court amid allegations of custodial torture.

Pandey, alias swami Amritanand alias Sudhakar Dwivedi, was picked up from Kanpur by the ATS and was brought to Nashik after being formally arrested on Thursday.

On Friday, the prosecution sought 14-day police remand for Pandey, claiming that Ajay Rahirkar, the alleged Abhinav Bharat treasurer who is already under arrest, had transferred a huge amount to him. Public Prosecutor Ajay Misar pleaded that Pandey could also help them trace absconding accused Ramji Kalsanghra.

Pandey, according to the prosecution, had also arranged a meeting between absconding accused Ramji Kalsanghra and Lt Col Purohit in August. Misar told the court that it was Pandey who had asked Purohit to arrange for explosives.

But Pandey, who was produced in the court of Joint civil judge, senior division, Nashik, HK Ganatra, alleged that the police had forcibly extracted confessions out of him that he had conspired along with the other suspects to trigger the terror strike in Malegaon that left six dead and several injured.  

“I have been beaten up by the ATS after my arrest and my medical test was done at 3 am” he said, initially refusing the help of a lawyer. The court then appointed BD More from the free legal aid committee as the defence lawyer.

Pleading Pandey’s case, More claimed that his client had been beaten up by the ATS and shouldn’t be sent to police custody.

When questioned by the judge, Pandey said: “Ghoonse mare hain. Main ne do din se khaya nahin, [They have punched me. I have not eaten for two days],” he said. He claimed that there was no visible sign of injury saying: “Unke tarike visible nahin hain. Muze jaan ka khatara hain [Their ways are not visible, I fear for my life].”

Judge Ganatra, however, took him inside his chamber and asked him to show the injury
marks. When he didn’t find any visible sings of injury, the judge, who was hearing the case in the absence of the chief judicial magistrate, remanded Pandey to police custody.
Misar submitted that Pandey’s name had figured in the interrogation of sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit and he attended conspiracy meetings at Bhopal, Faridabad and Pune.

The public prosecutor said some boarding passes of an airline, mobile phones, ATM cards, a pen drive, a laptop, a cheque book and visiting cards of some persons have been recovered from him.