Sadhvi Pragya, 6 others acquitted by Mumbai NIA court in 2008 Malegaon blast case

MUMBAI: A NIA special court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all seven accused of being involved in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, with the court saying that the prosecution failed to establish the case beyond reasonable doubt. The NIA court has also ordered the Maharashtra government to award Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 compensation to the injured.

A total of seven people were accused, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni. “All bail bonds of the accused are cancelled and sureties are discharged”, the NIA special court said.

The court had examined 323 prosecution witnesses and eight defence witnesses before pronouncing the verdict. The seven people have been acquitted of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and all other charges. “Prosecution proved that a blast occurred in Malegaon, but failed to prove that bomb was placed in that motorcycle”, judge Abhay Lohati said.

#WATCH | NIA Court acquits all accused in Malegaon blast case, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Colonel Purohit and others. Accused acquitted of all charges of UAPA, Arms Act and other charges.

(Visuals from outside the Court) pic.twitter.com/wF9CoZrYJx

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The court also mentioned that there were some manipulation done of medical certificates. “Court has come to a conclusion that injured people were not 101, but 95 only and there was manipulation in some medical certificates”, the court said.

The court also said that there is no evidence of storing or assembling the explosives in Lt Col Prasad Purohit’s residence, who was another accused in the case. “No sketch of spot was done by the investigation officer while doing panchnama. No finger print, dump data or anything else was collected for the spot. The samples were contaminated so reports can’t be conclusive and relied upon”, the court said.

On the alleged role on Abhinav Bharat organisation, the court said that there was no evidence of the funds of the organisation being used for terror activities.

On September 29 2008, six people were killed and 95 others injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon City’s Bhikku Chowk. Originally, 11 people were accused in the case; however, the court ultimately framed charges against seven, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya. (ANI)