Malegaon blast 2008 case: Special NIA court likely to deliver judgement on July 31

A Special NIA (National Investigation Agency) court on Thursday stated it is likely to deliver the verdict in the 2008 Malegaon blast case on July 31, citing the large volume of documents involved and the need for additional time to assess them thoroughly, PTI reported.

The NIA court had initially reserved its verdict for May 8 on April 19. However, Special Judge A.K. Lahoti postponed the pronouncement to a later date.

What is Malegaon blast 2008 case?

On September 29, 2008, a motorcycle fitted with an explosive device detonated near a mosque in Malegaon, a town located about 200 km from Mumbai in northern Maharashtra, resulting in six deaths and injuring more than 100 people.

During the course of the trial, the prosecution presented 323 witnesses, with 34 of them turning hostile.

Those currently on trial include Lt Col Prasad Purohit, BJP leader Pragya Thakur, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar and Sameer Kulkarni. They are charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The investigation was initially conducted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) before being handed over to the NIA in 2011.

In 2016, the NIA filed a chargesheet in which it cleared BJP leader Pragya Thakur and three other accused, namely Shyam Sahu, Praveen Takalki, and Shivnarayan Kalsangra, stating that no evidence was found against them and recommending their discharge from the case.

However, the NIA court later absolved Sahu, Kalsangra, and Takalki, but ruled that Thakur would have to stand trial. On October 30, 2018, the special court framed charges against seven accused under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The charges include sections 16 (terrorist act) and 18 (conspiracy to commit a terrorist act) of the UAPA, and sections 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempted murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 153(a) (promoting enmity between religious groups) of the IPC.

(With inputs from PTI)