MUMBAI: Rohini Salian, former special public prosecutor in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on Friday described Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's statements against late ATS chief Hemant Karkare as "unwarranted." Salian said that "as ATS chief, Karkare was dedicated to his job" and added that Thakur's allegations of torture in custody "were not found to hold even by the Supreme Court".

Salian recalled how she last met Karkare hours before he was killed by Pakistani gunmen Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Dera Khan on November 26, 2008. "I had met him in his office at 7 pm. We left together after discussing briefly the status of the Malegaon case. He had said he 'would meet' the next day," she said.

Karkare, a 1983 batch IPS officer, was probing the Malegaon blast case and had arrested Pragya Thakur, Indian Army's Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit, Shankaracharya Swami Dayanand Pandey and some Abhinav Bharat members for conspiring and planting an RDX bomb and executing the blast that killed six.

Former Mumbai top cop Julio Rebeiro too recalled meeting Karkare a day before he was martyred. "He was under unseen pressure. I told him he was a good Hindu and should do his job as his dharma. I told him she (Sadhvi) was doing her dharma and he should be doing his dharma of performing his duty," Rebeiro said.

After Thakur's arrest, senior BJP leader LK Advani had spoken to then PM Manmohan Singh and asked him that ATS should not torture Thakur; Singh had defended the ATS. "Karkare was worried due to these things. I told him not to worry and that since I knew Advani, I would talk to him about it," Rebeiro said. "Everyone in the police force knew no one had ever raised a finger at Karkare. He had a good reputation."

An officer who was part of the probe said Karkare had asked his team to be fair. "He had told officers that even if we get less evidence, it should be concrete and corroborative," the officer noted.

Salian stressed that "one should not forget she (Thakur) is still facing trial for serious offences of terror." She added, "When I was special prosecutor and Thakur had made an application for interim bail on medical grounds, she was asked to come to Mumbai and undergo tests in a cancer speciality hospital in Mumbai. She never submitted herself to such tests. Her bail on medical grounds at the time was rejected."

"I have nothing more to say. As prosecutors - I'm no longer representing NIA in this case we only work on merits of the case and the chargesheet," Salian added.

