No political pressure in Malegaon probe: ATS

Rebutting senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's charge, Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad said on Thursday there was no political pressure on it in handling the Malegaon blast probe nor was there any substance in the charge that accused Purohit was tortured in custody.
    
"There is zero political pressure and we are working professionally...Purohit has said in open court that ATS has not ill treated him," ATS head Hemant Karkare told Media-persons.
    
Regarding Advani's allegation that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, another arrested accused in the case, was ill treated by the ATS, he said the matter was sub-judice and he would not like to say anything at the moment.
    

                                             My daughter, Sadhvi Pragya 

The Sadhvi and Purohit are among the ten suspects arrested for the September 29

blast that killed six persons.

                                           'My client sadhvi Pragya will come out clean'


Karkare said "despite media reports and Purohit's relatives saying he was ill treated he told the court that there was no such thing."
    
Dayanand Pandey had also said he was ill treated but the court did not see any marks and medical reports also found the allegations to be incorrect, Karkare said.
    
Pandey, when produced in a Nashik court on November 14, had alleged he had been physically tortured by the ATS after being arrested. He was taken to the magistrate's chambers where he was examined but no marks of torture were found, he said.
    
"In this case, like all cases, we adhere to methods prescribed under the CrPC and we use witness statements, technical evidence and interrogation," Karkare said.