2008 Malegaon blast case: Special NIA court docket acquits all seven accused, together with Pragya Thakur, Lt. Col. Purohit

Seventeen years after the blast, a particular NIA court docket in Mumbai has acquitted all of the seven accused, together with former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, within the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Special Judge A.Ok. Lahoti delivered the decision.

The NIA court docket, in its judgment, mentioned that the prosecution ‘did not show the case’ and that the accused ‘deserved the advantage of doubt’. The decide additional noticed that the prosecution couldn’t show that the bike on which the bomb was allegedly strapped, belonged to Pragya Thakur.

On September 29, 2008, a bomb exploded in Malegaon, Nashik district, killing 10 and injuring over 100 folks. A case was filed by the Azad Nagar police station, however later re-registered by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) in November 2008 and prices beneath the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) had been utilized.

In January 2009, the ATS filed its first chargesheet adopted it with a supplementary chargesheet in April 2011.

However, in April 2011, the Ministry of Home Affairs suo motu directed the NIA to take up additional investigation of the case.

In May 2016, the NIA had filed its second supplementary chargesheet and dropped MCOCA prices in opposition to former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi.

In December 2017, Special Judge S.D. Tekale dropped MCOCA prices and charged them beneath Sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

All the accused are at the moment on bail.