Army did not give adequate protection to Lt Col Purohit: Manohar Parrikar

Panaji: The Indian Army did not give adequate protection to Lieutenant Shrikant Purohit, former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters late on Thursday, saying that the matter involving the release of the officer linked to a Hindu terror case should not be linked to politics.

"You cannot record this kind of information. Keeping this in mind, he should have been given the kind of support. Politics should not involved in this and I am not trying to point fingers, but I think that army did not give adequate protection to him," the Goa Chief Minister said here.

"The document they wanted, after studying that document, I realised that if he wants to present in case, he will want the document. We blacked out the confidential part and gave the order to give the rest of the documents," Parrikar added.

"You keep one thing in mind that the work of the army intelligence is to penetrate terrorist organisation or enemy module and gather information," he also said.

Purohit was released on bail after nine years after he was arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast case.