What is 2008 Malegaon blast case: Who were the key accused now given clean-chit by NIA court

A special NIA court in Mumbai announced its verdict on Thursday in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, nearly 17 years after the tragic incident. The court gave a verdict that a blast took place in Malegaon, but failed to prove that a bomb was placed in that motorcycle. Additionally, the court also concluded that the injured people were not 101 but only 95, and there was manipulation in some medical certificates, as per the news agency ANI report.

All seven accused were acquitted of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Arms Act, and other charges by the Special NIA court, including Sadhvi Pragya, a former Member of Parliament from Bhopal, and Lt Col Prasad Purohit. The court, in its verdict, said that the prosecution failed to prove the case and the accused deserves the benefit of the doubt.

What is the 2008 Malegaon blast case?

The incident occurred during the holy month of Ramzan, just before the Navratri festival on September 29, 2008, when an explosive device attached to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque at the Bhikku Chowk in Maharashtra's Malegaon. The site where the blast took place was a communally sensitive town located around 200 km from Mumbai.

The NIA conducted the probe into the case in 2011 and has sought "commensurate punishment" for the accused. It also pointed out that the intention of the accused was to strike terror in a section of the Muslim community, according to a report by the news agency PTI. It was claimed by the ATS that the blast was conspired by individuals linked to right-wing Hindu extremist groups.

Who were the key accused?

There were a total of seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including BJP leader and former MP Pragya Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sameer Kulkarni, and Sudhakar Chaturvedi.

According to a report in NDTV, BJP leader and former MP Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Purohit were the most prominent and controversial accused in the case among the seven on trial.

Sadhvi Pragya was arrested in October 2008, as the motorcycle used in the blast was registered in her name. The Maharashtra ATS accused her of being part of a larger conspiracy to target Muslim-dominated areas in response to previous terror attacks.

In addition, Lt Col Purohit was also accused of providing logistical and material support to a radical Hindu group named Abhinav Bharat. The probe agency claimed that Purohit helped in arranging explosives and was part of meetings where the blasts were reportedly planned.

What were the charges against them?

Before being transferred to the NIA in 2011, the case was initially probed by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The trial in the case began in 2018 after the court put charges against the seven acquitted.

The charges against them are the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) sections 16 (committing a terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit a terrorist act) and various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 153(a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups), as per PTI report.

Amid the trial, the prosecution presented 323 witnesses and eight defence witnesses, of whom 37 turned hostile. Multiple pieces of evidence were submitted, including over 10,800 exhibits and over 400 articles seized during the investigation.