Mugdha Das

Malegaon blast verdict: Special NIA court acquits all 7 accused

Digital Desk: All seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb case, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt. Colonel Prasad Purohit, were cleared by a special NIA court in Mumbai seventeen years after the explosion.

During the month of Ramzan, the blast took place on the evening of September 29, 2008, in the communally volatile village of Malegaon, which is roughly 200 kilometers from Mumbai.

Six people were killed and over a hundred were injured in the explosion.

Special Judge AK Lahoti, presiding over the case assigned to the NIA, said that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations in the case and that all seven accused deserve the benefit of doubt.

Judge Lahoti said that the prosecution could not prove that the motorcycle used in the blast belonged to Pragya Thakur, adding that the engine number was unclear, and the chassis number had been wiped out.

Seven individuals, who were eventually put on trial, included former BJP MP Pragya Thakur, then serving military intelligence officer - Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni.

The accused faced charges under UAPA and various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder, promoting enmity and voluntarily causing hurt.