Mumbai, Nov. 5: A serving officer of the rank of lieutenant colonel was today arrested on the charge of being part of the conspiracy behind September’s Malegaon blast, sending shockwaves through the defence establishment.

Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, who was once part of the military intelligence set-up, was produced before chief judicial magistrate K.D. Boche in Nashik this afternoon. Boche remanded him in police custody till November 15.

The total number of arrests in the case has risen to nine, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay.

Public prosecutor Ajay Misar told the court the officer had allegedly sent five text messages to Upadhyay, founder of the Pune-based radical outfit Abhinav Bharat, after the probe zoomed in on the sadhvi and right-wing Hindu groups.

Sources said the anti-terrorist squad had traced text messages — like “The cat is out of the bag”, “Singh has sung” (referring to Shivnarain Singh Kalsangram, who was arrested along with the sadhvi), “We are on the radar of the ATS”, and “Change the Sim card”— to Purohit’s phone.

Arguing for police custody, Misar said a high-ranking army officer could have access to explosives stored in military depots, and hence the ATS wished to interrogate him for more information.

The prosecution also alleged that Purohit had carried out money transfers in six to seven cities, and is suspected to have used the hawala route.