India's defence minister voiced concern on Friday about the alleged role of an army colonel in funding and providing explosives to a right-wing Hindu group accused of bombing a Muslim town. Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit was arrested by anti-terror police Wednesday in connection with the September 29 bombing near a mosque that killed six people and injured scores of others in Malegaon in western India.
"This incident is a matter of serious concern," Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters. "We are very determined to go to the root of the whole thing." Anti-terror police in the state of Maharashtra, where the predominantly Muslim town is located, have asked the army for permission to question two other serving army officers, news channel NDTV reported Friday.
The army is viewed by many Indians as a bastion of secular incorruptibility. Purohit stands charged with siphoning funds to a little-known radical Hindu outfit, several of whose members have been arrested for actually carrying out the bombing. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred in an area where relations between Hindus and Muslims have been strained in recent years. Two years ago, simultaneous bombings in the town killed 38 people and wounded more than 100. Most of the victims were Muslims.
Earlier this month a Muslim man was arrested in connection with the blast. But later anti-terror police said they were exploring the involvement of right-wing Hindu groups. Indian cities have been hit by a wave of deadly bombings in recent months, several of them claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen.