India: Nearly 17 years after a powerful bomb tore through Maharashtra’s Malegaon, killing six people and injuring more than a hundred, a special court in Mumbai today acquitted all seven accused in the case, including former BJP MP Pragya Thakur and former army officer Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit.
The blast occurred on the night of September 29 2008, near Bhikku Chowk in the communally tense town, located about 200 km from Mumbai, during the holy month of Ramzan.
The special NIA court said today that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations in the case and that all seven accused deserve the benefit of doubt.
The special NIA court said today that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations in the case and that all seven accused deserve the benefit of doubt.
Seven individuals were eventually put on trial, they are Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, former BJP MP from Bhopal. Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, then serving officer in Military Intelligence. Major (Retd) Ramesh Upadhyay. Ajay Rahirkar. Sudhakar Dwivedi. Sudhakar Chaturvedi. Sameer Kulkarni
The accused faced charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder, promoting enmity, and voluntarily causing hurt.
The investigation was initially led by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), headed at the time by Hemant Karkare, who would later be killed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The ATS made its first arrests in October 2008. The motorcycle allegedly used in the blast was traced to Pragya Thakur. Authorities claimed she had lent it to the conspirators. They alleged she was part of a group which included former military personnel and members of a little-known radical group called Abhinav Bharat.
Pronouncing its verdict today, the court said that the prosecution successfully proved that the blast did take place, but the National Investigation Agency (NIA) failed to establish that the bomb was fitted in the motorcycle.
The court said that although there are allegations that RDX was used to cause the explosion, there is no evidence that the RDX was stored at Lt Col Purohit’s residence, and neither is there any proof that he assembled the bomb. It added that there is also no evidence to prove that the bike in question was owned by Pragya Thakur.
