Latest Malegaon arrests: retired Army Major and ABVP member

The ATS informed the court that a “series of meetings” had taken place between Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Upadhyay, which need to be further probed. The remand application also mentioned meetings between the Sadhvi, Upadhyay and Kulkarni in Indore, Bhopal, as well as an “important” one at the Bhonsala military school in Nashik on April 16, 2008. Upadhyay was arrested from Pune, Kulkarni from Madhya Pradesh.

Additional Commission of Police, ATS, Sukhvinder Singh said: “They have been arrested as they are part of the larger conspiracy, and investigations are on from all angles. We would not like to disclose any operational details at this stage. Upadhyay retired as a Major from the Army in 1998.”

Upadhyay, who argued his own case in the court today, said he “had shared a dais with Sadhvi Pragya Singh only once,” and denied any communication with her since then. “I have served in the Army and will not do anything to harm the nation. I have been a military man all my life,” he said.

The ATS counsel told the court that the retired Major had received training at the Deolali Artillery School while serving in the Army and was running a transport business after retirement — both links that needed to be investigated for any involvement in the blasts.