Click to play videoMumbai: A sadhvi (female saint) in her late 20's may not match the profile of a bomber. But the Maharashtra Police now claim to have cracked Malegaon blast case after arresting the sadhvi
Sadhvi Purna Chetanand alias Pragya Singh Thakur, Shyam Bhavar Lal, and Shivnarayan Singh are the new faces of terror. The three have been arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad for their alleged involvement in the Malegaon blasts last month that left five people dead and several injured.
"Pragya had set up an organisation named Jai Vande Matram Jankalyan Samiti," Joint Commissioner of Police (ATS) Hemant Karkare said.
The police say Sadhvi Chetanand is a former office bearer of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Durga Vahini, while Lal and Singh were affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
All three are allegedly linked to the Hindu Jagran Manch, an extremist group.
Police say they traced the engine and chassis of the motorbike used in the blast to Sadhvi Chetanand.
Originally from Bhind in Madhya Pradesh, the Sadhvi shifted with her father to Surat six years ago.
Her father, an Ayurvedic doctor, says his daughter, has been affiliated with the ABVP since her school days, but insists she is innocent.
"We oppose injustice and never do justice to anyone. Pragya is my brightest daughter," Dr Chandrapal Singh Thakur, father of Pragya, said.
Lal and Singh were educated in mechanical and electrical engineering streams.
Sources say a man named Ramnarayan Singh, the brother of Singh, is the master mind of the blasts.
The Hindu Jagran Manch has, however, denied being involved in the blasts.
"The Hindu Jagran Manch has never been involved in any blasts and anti-national activities. This is all a conspiracy," Radhe Shyam Yadav, State coordinator, Hindu Jagran Manch, said.
But the big question is will there be a political backing for these agencies who are currently unravelling the fearful and upcoming face of saffron terror in India.
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