Two persons were picked up from Vapi and Pune by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in connection with the Malegaon blast probe amid concerns that more army officers may come under the scanner.Leave records of arrested Lt Col P S Purohit, suspected to have masterminded the September 29 blast, have been given to the investigating agencies, official sources said on Saturday.Two serving Colonels may also face interrogation. There were reports that a retired Lt General could also be quizzed but there was no official word on it.No details were immediately forthcoming about the two persons picked up from Vapi and Pune. ATS officials said nine persons, including a Sadhvi and a serving army officer, arrested for their alleged involvement in the blast could be booked under the stringent MCOCA act."The application of some sections of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) is being considered presently," they said.Under MCOCA, those convicted can get a maximum punishment of life imprisonment and a minimum of five years and police can keep the accused in detention for 180 days to file their chargesheet as against the normal 90-day period.The accused in the blast that left six people dead have been booked under various sections of the IPC including murder and conspiracy, Indian Explosives Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.The ATS officials had said they were still on the lookout for a suspect identified as Ramji, who is suspected to have played a major role in planting the bomb in the town.A Colonel who may be probed is posted in Deolali in Nashik while the Lt Colonel is based in Pune. According to the sources, Army is contemplating action against Purohit under Section 21 B of the Army Act which prohibits military personnel from having any political affiliations.The ATS is investigating the possible involvement of some of the accused in earlier blasts like the 2006 Nanded blast in which two persons were killed while making a bomb.The ATS has taken permission to conduct scientific tests like brain mapping, polygraph and narcoanalysis on Purohit.However, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has not yet given a schedule regarding when the tests will be conducted, ATS officials said.Scientific tests have been conducted on Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, former army officer Ramesh Upadhyay and senior member of the organisation Abhinav Bharat Sameer Kulkarni.A senior CBI official from Delhi of Joint Director rank has met ATS officials, adding another dimension to the ongoing probe.Government's worries have been voiced by Defence Minister A K Antony who said the alleged involvement of a serving officer (Purohit) in the Malegaon blasts was a matter of "serious concern."Necessary action will be taken against him by the Defence Ministry on the basis of the Maharashtra police's investigation report in the case."On the part of the Army, without any hesitation, they are fully assisting and cooperating with the investigating agencies. We are waiting for a report from the Maharashtra police and I can tell you, we are taking it seriously," he said.CBI ready to provide all help to Maharashtra ATSNew Delhi, November 8:After establishing an ‘informal’ contact with the anti-terror wing of Maharashtra police, the CBI said it was ready to extend all required help to the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), probing the Malegaon blast.The CBI has contacted the ATS which have arrested nine persons, including a serving Lt Col of the army, for their alleged role in triggering the bomb in the Muslim-dominated powerloom town."We have established informal communication with ATS Maharashtra and are ready to extend all required help," Press Information Officer of CBI R K Gaur said in a statement.The CBI wanted to probe the links of the arrested accused, including Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit, with the April 2006 blast in Maharashtra's Nanded town.The agency had investigated the Nanded blast and filed a chargesheet on March 15, 2008 against 10 people which included Sanjay Chowdhury, Yogesh Deshpande, Maruti Wagah, Gunniraj Thakur and Mahesh Pandey. They are allegedly associated to Bajrang Dal. Two people - Himanshu Venkatesh and Naresh Laxman - were killed while manufacturing the bomb.The Maharashtra Police have so far arrested nine persons which include Lt Colonel Purohit, former ABVP activist Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and one Sameer Kulkarni.Purohit was working with the Army Liaison Cell, a front of Military Intelligence, and was learning Chinese and Arabic in Panchmari in Madhya Pradesh.Police and security agencies are trying to trace links of one of the accused to Jammu and Kashmir with a possibility that RDX could have been smuggled from there.
