Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Nov 21 (IANS) Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar Friday disapproved of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani’s attack on the Maharashtra police Anti Terrorism Squad for allegedly torturing Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragnya Thakur in custody.”He (Advani) is a former prime minister and home minister of the country and should have known it is imprudent to criticize an investigating agency or comment on the course of an investigation when it is underway,” Pawar told reporters here.

Advani Tuesday expressed “anguish” over what he called the “barbaric treatment” to the sadhvi in the “illegal custody” of the ATS, and accused the investigating agency of acting in “a politically motivated and unprofessional manner”.

Advani also demanded a change in the ATS team and a high-level probe into the manner of the investigations of a serving army officer.

Reacting to Advani’s outbursts, Pawar said, the BJP leader had thus far refrained from making any statement “and it was good, but then…he spoke out of turn”.

Pawar’s criticism of Advani comes a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called up the BJP leader to say he should not have made the comment on the basis of a version (of Sadhvi’s “torture”) coming from one of the accused when the probe was ongoing.

Advani reportedly shot back at Manmohan Singh with, “You should read the affidavit (made by the sadhvi giving details of her torture) first”.