MUMBAI, Aug. 2 -- A day after a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court acquitted former BJP MP Pragya Thakur, Army officer Lt Col Prakash Purohit and five others in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, a retired police officer stirred fresh controversy, claiming former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh had asked him to arrest Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat while investigation was underway, to bolster the "saffron terror" narrative. Singh, who was then an additional commissioner of police with the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) which was investigating the case, denied the charge and said the officer, Mehboob Mujawar, was never a part of the ATS. On Friday, speaking on the phone from his residence in Solapur, Mujawar told HT that while he was working with the ATS, Singh had directed him to arrest the RSS chief and the two wanted accused in the case, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, who allegedly planted the bomb in Malegaon that killed six people. Both Kalsangra and Dange have been at large since 2008. "Singh had asked me to arrest Bhagwat to create a 'saffron terror' narrative. But I did not obey the order as it was issued orally, and there was no written communication," he said. Parambir Singh, however, denied the allegation. "He (Mujawar) is a disgraced policeman who is being opportunistic," he told HT. "Names of RSS leaders never came up in our investigation. The NIA had also examined him (Mujawar) but his claims turned out to be totally bogus." Singh also claimed that Mujawar was never part of the ATS. "Mr Hemant Karkare (then ATS chief) got him involved on the recommendation of then Solapur SP to help in detection (of the bomb blast case). But he never participated in the investigation and indulged in some criminal activities. I remember that some offence was registered against him in Solapur and the commissioner of police, Solapur had sacked him."...