NIA completes recording of evidence in Malegaon blast case

Special Judge A K Lahoti has directed the seven accused, who are facing trial including BJP Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, to remain present for the recording of accused statements on September 25.

Following this, the accused will get an opportunity to bring forth defence witnesses if any and then the court will hear final arguments from the NIA and the accused before pronouncing the judgment.

While over 400 witnesses were cited in the chargesheets filed by the investigating agencies, 21 died during the trial’s duration, while some were dropped from being examined by the prosecution.

On Thursday, the court rejected an application filed by Purohit seeking to recall a witness stating that he has to be confronted with some documents, accessed through the Right to Information Act.

A letter was also written by lawyer Shahid Nadeem, representing a victim’s kin, to the NIA to examine magistrate judges as witnesses to prove certain statements which had gone missing during the trial.

The NIA prosecutors, however, filed a pursis-a written document-to close the evidence.

Six persons were killed and over 100 were injured in a blast in Malegaon, a town near Nashik, nearly 270 kms from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008.

The ATS had claimed a breakthrough in its probe claiming that the bomb was placed on an LML Freedom which belonged to Thakur.

After her arrest, the ATS claimed the involvement of other accused in the conspiracy and arrested them as well.

The ATS filed two chargesheets in the case but in 2010 the probe was transferred to the newly formed federal agency, NIA.

The agency continued with its probe in the case till 2016 and a supplementary chargesheet was filed.

The NIA 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, refused to drop Thakur as an accused and said that she and six others will continue to face charges including sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act along with murder, criminal conspiracy and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The seven, including Thakur, Purohit, retired (Major) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi pleaded not guilty and the trial against them began in December 2018.

The NIA examined witnesses including the victims, who deposed about the injuries caused to them as well as people it claimed were witnesses in the conspiracy meetings. Some of them turned hostile, denying that they had given statements to the ATS or the NIA.

Some also alleged that they were assaulted and threatened by the ATS officials to forcibly give statements, while others denied being present at any meetings.

The NIA has also relied on forensic experts.

The accused through the cross-examination of the witnesses claimed that they have been falsely implicated.