Purohit gave pseudonyms to members
Alleged conspirator in the 2008 Malegaon blast and member of right wing Hindu radical outfit Abhinav Bharat, Praveen Venkatesh Takalki was apparently given his pseudonym — “Praveen Mutalik” — by his handler Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit. Lt. Col. Purohit apparently re-christened every member who joined the outfit, never allowing his outfit’s cadre to use their own names.
After his arrest, Takalki revealed this information to the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad during his interrogation.
An ATS official said, “The terrorist organisation never allowed its cadre to use their original names. This was done to not only confuse and dodge investigators, but also cadres of other groups.”
He added, “In case, any cadre was arrested, whatever information the investigators would glean from him would be of no use, as the arrested man himself would not be aware of the real details of his colleagues.”
“On the very first day of joining Abhinav Bharat, Mutalik was told by Purohit that he would henceforth be known as Praveen Mutalik,” the official said.
“The chargesheet filed by the anti-terrorism squad in 2008 shows Takalki as wanted by the name of Praveen Mutalik It actually took us three months to establish that Mutalik and Takalki were the same people,” Rakesh Maria, ATS chief admitted.
“We had interrogated several accused who had already been chargesheeted, but not even once did they mention Mutalik’s real name. Even Purohit did not give up that information during his grilling,” an ATS source said, and added that it was a typical trait of any terrorist organisation.
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