NIA Court acquits all accused in Malegaon Blast case
Court noted that several technical errors occurred during the investigation.;
17 years after the incident, a NIA Court in Mumbai has acquitted all seven persons accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case observing that the investigating agencies failed to prove the charges.
Special Judge AK Lahoti observed today that the prosecution was unable to prove the charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
The case pertains to an incident that occurred on September 29, 2008, a bomb blast in the Malegaon town in Nashik district, Maharashtra leaving 6 killed and around 80 injured.
Accused in this case include Pragya Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Shudakar Diwedi, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (Retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sameer Kulkarni.
The case was initially investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The NIA had presented 323 witnesses during the trial, but 34 of them turned hostile. Following the recording of the victims' testimonies, the court summoned had Pragya Thakur and six other accused individuals to record their statements under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).