Family members of victims of the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast have challenged the acquittal of the accused, including Pragya Singh Thakur and Prasad Purohit, in the Bombay High Court, citing faulty investigation and the nature of conspiracy.
Soon after the verdict, celebrations broke out outside Lt Colonel Purohit's residence, where supporters burst firecrackers and distributed sweets to mark the court's decision.
Here's the list of the seven accused who faced trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
The Supreme Court has junked a plea filed by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit seeking discharge in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
The Lt Colonel Shrikant Purohit case has taken a pretty interesting turn. The claim of the suspected mastermind of 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing and other terror cases that he was not one of the terrorists but an infiltrator on a military intelligence operation has certainly raised eyebrows.
The high court was hearing Purohit's application seeking that all charges against him in the case be dropped. Six people were killed and 100 others injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon city in Nashik district of Maharashtra on September 29, 2008.
Sadhvi Pragya had moved the court earlier this month seeking her discharge in the Malegoan bomb blast case.
The Bombay high court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of 2008 Malegaon blast accused Lt Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit but allowed liberty to co-accused Ajay Rahirkar on certain conditions.
Investigative agencies are finally looking at the possibility of a Hindutva terror network. Aseemanand's alleged confession and the earlier arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit have shown the trail of the Hindutva terror network, which has turned the course of investigations into the bombings of Malegaon, Samjhauta Express, Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid bomb blast cases.
Thakur sought exemption on the ground she is a Member of Parliament and has to attend the parliament on a day-to-day basis.
The CBI says Kalsangra, an Abhinav Bharat activist, was introduced to Gupta by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Sunil Joshi. Kalsangra's role becomes crucial since all the accused who are in custody have told their interrogators that he was the man who planted the bomb at Malegaon
"I have spent nine years in jail and have suffered a lot. Though I have been reinstated in service, this is an exception since, I have a good record," Shivade said on behalf of Purohit.
Army Chief General V K Singh said there was no communalism in the service and officers such as Malegaon blast accused Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit were only an "aberration".
Amid reports that Pakistan may seek extradition of Malegaon blast accused Lieuteant Colonel Shrikant Purohit in the Samjhauta Express blast case, India on Tuesday virtually rejected the demand, saying Islamabad had no locus standi in the investigations involving the Army officer."The case (Malegaon blast) is under examination by the Anti-Terror Squad (of Maharashtra Police). It is our internal matter. We are investigating it. How can Pakistan be concerned with that,"he said.
As actor Shiney Ahuja faces serious charges including rape, his lawyer Shrikant Shivade fields Nithya Ramani's questions on the case.
A host of pro-Hindutva outfits, including Abhinav Bharat, organised a meeting in Pune on Sunday to raise money for the accused in the Malegaon blast case.Taking strong exception to the expression 'Hindu terrorism' being used in regard to the suspects booked by the Anti-Terrorism Squad -- Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Col Shrikant Purohit and Dayanand Pandey -- Abhinav Bharat president Himani Savarkar told the gathering that the money collected would be used for the legal battles.
Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit, who was arrested for his role in the Malegaon blast, was produced before a Nashik court on Saturday.The court extended Purohit's police custody till November 18.Public Prosecutor Ajay Misar told the court that Lt Col Purohit had links with the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast and he supplied the RDX used in the blast.
Andhra Pradesh police officials including members of elite anti terrorist force OCTOPUS will soon go to Mumbai to question Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Shrikant Purohit and other suspects who were arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast.
The judicial custody of Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit, accused of being involved in the Malegaon blast, was on Monday extended till January 17 by a local court in a case relating to procuring arms license on fake documents.The army officer was produced before Judge V V Joshi after the end of his judicial custody today.The court sent Purohit in judicial remand for another 12 days, his counsel Avinash Bhide told PTI.
Shyam Apte, an engineer who returned to India after spending 25 years in the United States and has been staying in Pune since the last one decade since his retirement, was grilled for three hours by ATS officials at his residence in Nav Sahyadri area of the city on Friday last. His name figured in the narco test of Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit
The Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, an 89-year old largest such Islamic body in the country that issued a 'fatwa' signed by 6,000 Muslim clerics in Hyderabad ten days ago against terrorism, on Monday moved the Supreme Court for release of a large number of Muslim youths held in connections with blasts in Malegaon in 2001, 2006 and 2008.
The NIA has recorded the statement of the owner of a hotel in Panchmarhi in this regard.
The bench refused Purohit's request for staying the proceedings in the trial court, noting that in the past, both the Supreme Court and the Bombay HC had passed orders directing the trial court to expedite the hearing in the case.
The bench, however, granted Purohit the liberty to raise his contentions before the trial court and said it is not expressing any opinion on his petition.
The apex court had on April 28 rejected Purohit's plea for urgent hearing, saying the petition will come up in regular course.
The Bombay high court had on April 25 granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused of plotting the September 2008 Malegaon blast, but rejected the bail plea of co-accused Purohit saying the charges against him were of grave nature.
"All our investigation agencies have full-fledged autonomy...There is no interference from our side or from the government's side," he said while interacting with reporters on the sidelines of a Border Security Force event in New Delhi.
The Congress on Friday termed the National Investigation Agecy's decision to drop all charges against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was a vindication of the disclosure made by former special public prosecutor.
'If there is effective prosecution, only then we will get justice, but first let them (NIA) run the case honestly in court.'
During investigation, 'sufficient evidences have not been found against' Pragya Singh Thakur and five others, the NIA said, adding it has submitted in the chargesheet 'that the prosecution against them is not maintainable'.
"Prima facie there is no case made out against Sadhvi Pragya," said Justice More while granting bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused of plotting the 2008 Malegaon blast on Tuesday. Sadhvi's lawyer Shyam Dewani speaks to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com on what were the circumstances under which she got bail.
Rohini Salian has claimed that the NIA had told her not to appear in the case and that she was facing pressure to go easy on the accused.
'We were expecting death sentences, but now the court has acquitted them, despite Aseemanand himself admitting to his crime in front of a judge.' More importantly, it seems the tag of 'Hindu Terror' coined by the United Progressive Alliance government was wrong all along. Amjedullah Khan, spokesperson for the Majlis Bachao Tehreek, has been tracking the Mecca Masjid blast case from day one and was also involved in securing the release of more than 100 Muslims youths who were falsely accused in different terror cases in the aftermath of the blast. He spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com about the acquittal of Swami Aseemanand and what it means.
'He has terror charges against him. And for an army officer, it's just terrible.'
'My husband will never forget the torture nor forgive those responsible for it.'
'This is how Narendra Modi-Amit Shah rule. They are now announcing that these arrested Naxalites want to kill Modi.'
Pragya Singh Thakur remained at the back of the courtroom during Tuesday's framing of the charges, her face serene, quite different from the fiery person one read about or saw on television. But once the day's proceedings were over and she was wheeled out, the sadhvi decided she actually was very keen to meet the media and headed right out into the melee, says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
Shyamvar Pinturam Rai and Pradeep Waghmare. Both erstwhile employees of Peter and Indrani Mukerjea. In the witness stand on Monday, Waghmare came across as a cheerful, straightforward man who is attempting to clamber his way towards prosperity. In the witness stand on Friday, Rai shed his customary jauntiness and broke down weeping, begging forgiveness from CBI Special Judge Jayendra Chandrasen Jagdale.
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