Army refuses to give info on Purohit
The Indian Army has refused to furnish information sought by 2008 Malegaon blast accused Major Ramesh Upadhyaya (Retd) under the Right to Information Act.
Upadhyaya had sought information on whether Colonel Prasad Purohit, another accused in the case, was given the task to infiltrate into the Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi) and other right-wing organisations and whether he was also entrusted with the task of carrying out blasts to implicate these organisations.
However, the Army has refused to give any information. Hearing the first appeal filed by Upadhyaya after his RTI application was rejected, Lt. General K. Surendranath, chief of the staff, Southern Command, Pune, dismissed the appeal on the grounds that it was personal information and had no relationship with public activities or interest and would cause unwarranted invasion of privacy of the individual under Section 8 (1)(j) of the RTI Act 2005.
Upadhyaya was arrested in 2008 for his alleged involvement in the Malegaon blast on September 29, 2008, in which six persons were killed and over 100 injured. He is accused of conspiring with prime accused Lt. Col. Purohit, who is also lodged inside jail.
Upadhyaya had filed an RTI application from central prison, Navi Mumbai to the CPIO, headquarters, southern command.
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