Maharashtra Cops File Chargesheet In Malegaon Blast

Maharashtra Cops File Chargesheet In Malegaon Blast 20 Jan 2009, 1240 hrs IST, PTI MUMBAI: Maharashtra Police have filed the chargesheet in the Malegaon blast case, in which a serving Army officer was also arrested, before the special MCOCA court as the judicial custody of all the 11 accused is coming to an end. ( Watch ) The case was being probed by Joint Commissioner Hemant Karkare before he fell victim to the audacious terror strike in Mumbai on the intervening night of November 26 and 27. The bail application of five prime accused in the September 29 Malegaon blast, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col S P Purohit, who was working with Military Intelligence, Ajay Rahirkar, Shivnarayan Kalsangra and Sham Sahu, was also to come up for hearing before the court. All the 11 accused in Malegaon blast case, including sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Purohit, were remanded to judicial custody till January 20 by the MCOCA court. On September 29, 2008, a motorcycle laden bomb went off in Malegaon killing seven and injuring more than 70. The probe by ATS opened a can of worms as a right wing Hindu extremist group and serving military intelligence officers were found to be allegedly involved in the case. The motorcycle used in the blast pointed the needle of suspicion to its owner - a Surat based sadhvi, Pragya Singh Thakur who was arrested on October 23. Along with Sadhvi, the ATS had also arrested Shyamlal Sahu for aiding the blasts and Shivnarayan Kalsangra for allegedly making the bomb. The telephone records show that Sadhvi allegedly had 400 minutes of conversations with Kalsangra after the blast, official sources said. The emergence of Hindu extremists as prime accused resulted in political hue and cry as many groups said that the government was playing votebank politics and trying to appease the minority community. In due course, three more people, including Ajay Rahirkar, a functionary of a right wing extremist group Abhinav Bharat, was arrested on charges of providing mobile phones and weapons used in the blasts. The surprise shock in the case came with the arrest of serving military intelligence officer Lt Col Purohit on November 5, alleged to be one of the conspirators. Purohit, who had a tenure in Jammu and Kashmir, was accused by police of supplying RDX and money to the recruits besides training the cadres of the little-known Abhinav Bharat. The army officer was also allegedly present at a meeting organised by Abhinav Bharat cadres before the blast at Bhonsala Military School on September 16. After 10 days, based on interrogation of Sadhvi and Purohit, ATS arrested Dayanand Pandey alias Swami Amritanand from Kanpur. Pandey was allegedly very close to Ramji Kalsangra who allegedly planted the explosive laden bike. The ATS invoked MCOCA on the Malegaon blast case on November 21. The probe will be on even after filing the chargesheet as the ATS is still looking for at least two to three accused including Ramji, the man who had planted the bomb at Malegaon on September 29 last year.

"Loved reading this piece by AEJAZ AHMED?
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"

Join our Telegram group

Join our Whatsapp group