2008 Malegaon blast: After over 17 years, trial concludes, NIA court reserves case for judgment

Judge Lahoti was this week given an extension till August 31, after he was initially proposed to be transferred in June in the annual general transfers of judges.

Seven accused namely former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sudhakar Dhardwivedi were on trial facing charges, including criminal conspiracy and murder under IPC and sections of the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Seventeen years ago, on September 29, 2008, the blast at Malegaon town near Nashik killed six persons and injured over 100 others.

Initially, the probe was conducted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) led by slain officer Hemant Karkare, who was killed during the 26/11 terror attack. The ATS had arrested Thakur, claiming that her involvement was traced through an LML Freedom motorcycle, on which the bomb was allegedly planted by absconding accused Ramji Kalsangra. The others were subsequently arrested by the ATS, which claimed their involvement in the conspiracy to carry out the blast, planned allegedly to cause communal disharmony. It claimed that conspiracy meetings were held in various locations where the blast was planned.

The ATS filed two chargesheets in the case but in 2010 the probe was transferred to the newly formed federal agency, the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The agency continued with its probe in the case till 2016 when a supplementary chargesheet was filed.

In its chargesheet, while the NIA aligned with the ATS probe, it differed on certain aspects. It recommended dropping of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused and also said that there is not enough evidence to continue proceedings against some of the accused, including Thakur.

The special court, in 2017, dropped MCOCA; however, it refused to exonerate Thakur as an accused and said that she and six others will continue to face charges. The trial in the case began in December 2018. Since one of the accused, Dhardwivedi, contested that a blast had taken place, the prosecution examined over 100 witnesses who were injured or kin of the victims.

The hearing of evidence in the case was closed in September 2023 after 323 witnesses deposed, 34 of whom turned hostile for not supporting the prosecution case. Some of the witnesses who went hostile were to depose on crucial aspects of the case related to alleged conspiracy meetings.

Special public prosecutors Avinash Rasal and Anushree Rasal submitted that the prosecution had relied on witness statements and technical evidence like Call Data Records, voice samples to prove its case. “We examined 323 witnesses and technical evidence to bring on record the circumstances of the case. The delay in the trial proved to be a challenge as some witnesses turned hostile and over 30 passed away before the trial commenced,” SPP Rasal said.

The accused maintained their stand that they had nothing to do with the blast. They claimed ATS officers illegally detained them and forced witnesses to give statements against them.