Malegaon blast case verdict out, Pragya Thakur among all 7 accused acquitted
On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and around 100 were injured when an explosive device detonated near a mosque in Malegaon city in Maharashtra.
Judge AK Lahoti pronounced the verdict and said the prosecution indeed proved that a blast occurred in Malegaon, but failed to prove that a bomb was placed in a particular motorcycle. "The bike allegedly involved in the blast did not have a clear chassis number. Prosecution could not prove that it was in (Pragya Thakur's) possession immediately before the blast," said the court, as per news agency ANI.
Further pointing towards apparent holes in the probe, the court said, 'No sketch of the spot was done by the investigation officer while doing the panchnama. No fingerprint, dump data or anything else was collected for the spot. The samples were contaminated, so the reports can't be conclusive and are not reliable."
'There is no evidence of storing or assembling the explosives in Shrikant Prasad Purohit's residence,' the court said, as per ANI, also acquitting Lt Colonel Purohit.
It added that anti-terror law UAPA could not be invoked in this case as 'sanction was not taken as per rules'. "Both the sanction orders of the UAPA in the case are defective," said the court.
The court came to the conclusion that the injured people were not 101 but 95 only, and there was manipulation in some medical certificates too.
The case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2011 from the Maharashtra ATS.
All of the accused were currently out on bail.
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