Bhopal: Malegaon blast accused and BJP’s Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate Pragya Singh Thakur has claimed police officer Hemant Karkare was killed during the 26/11 attacks as she “cursed” him for torturing her. She apologised after the BJP distanced itself from the remarks, describing them as “personal”, while the late IPS officer’s colleagues berated her for insulting his memory.
Meanwhile, chief electoral officer of Madhya Pradesh B.L. Kanta Rao took cognizance of the issue and sought a report from Bhopal collector.
Pitted against Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, Ms Thakur had made the statement while recounting her ordeal during her 24-day-custody with the Maharashtra anti-terrorist squad (ATS) after she was arrested in 2009 in connection with the blast in Malegaon in September 2008 in which six people were killed and 101 injured.
Addressing BJP workers in Bhopal on Thursday night, Ms Thakur had also claimed that Karkare had “made up his mind” not to release her from custody.
“Hemant Karkare was called by the (blast) probe panel member to Mumbai. I was then in a Mumbai jail. The commission member told him that if he didn’t have any proof against me, he should not unlawfully hold me in jail,” she said.
“But he (Karkare) said he will do anything to bring the proof. Will do anything, will create it, bring it from here and there, but will not release Sadhvi,” she said.
“This was his (Karkare’s) cunningness,” she said adding, “I told him he will be destroyed.”
