New Delhi: Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit -- acquitted in 2008 Malegaon blast case -- has been promoted to the post of Colonel after years of legal battle.
Mr Purohit was among the seven accused acquitted by the special NIA court on July 31. The court had said that "mere suspicion cannot replace proof" and cited lack of reliable and cogent evidence beyond reasonable doubt.
The blast on September 29, 2008, in which six persons were killed and over 100 injured, occurred when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle exploded near a mosque in Malegaon town in Maharashtra's Nashik district.
After the acquittal, Mr Purohit, who was reinstated in the Army pending trial, had said he was accused of something and then exonerated, and now "bygones should be bygones".
"I want to thank the Indian Army, which is known to hold the hands of its soldiers. I thank my legal team, who fought the case pro bono. I am forever indebted to these people," he ad told NDTV.
Apart from Lt Colonel Purohit, those accused in the case included former BJP MP Pragya Thakur, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (Retd), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni.
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