Malegaon Blast Verdict:‘Prosecution failed to prove…' What did NIA court say while acquitting Sadhvi Pragya, 6 others

Mint

2 days ago

A special NIA court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all seven individuals accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, stating that the prosecution could not prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
The seven accused linked to the case are former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, 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 also directed the Maharashtra government to provide compensation— ₹ 2 lakh each to the families of those killed and ₹ 50,000 to those injured in the incident.
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 7, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya.
"Prosecution proved that a blast occurred in Malegaon but failed to prove that bomb was placed in that motorcycle," the Judge Abhay Lohati said.
It noted further that it came into notice that some of the medical certificates were also manipulated. "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.
'There is no evidence of storing or assembling the explosives in Prasad Purohit's residence, who was another accused in the case,' it mentioned
"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.
The court had examined 323 prosecution witnesses and 8 defence witnesses before pronouncing the verdict. The 7 people have been acquitted of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms act and all other charges.