NIA to special court: Crucial witness in 2008 Malegaon blast case dead, cannot depose

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday informed a special court which is hearing the 2008 Malegaon blast case that a Pune-based businessman, who is one of the crucial witnesses in the case, has died and his name should be dropped as a witness

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday informed a special court which is hearing the 2008 Malegaon blast case that a Pune-based businessman, who is one of the crucial witnesses in the case, has died and his name should be dropped as a witness.

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The deceased allegedly helped Col Prasad Purohit and another accused Dayanand Pandey gather money through Abhinav Bharat for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits.

The court had issued a summons to the witness, who is listed as number 61. The businessman was said to be one of the crucial links to establishing the connection between the accused and the activities of Abhinav Bharat, an organisation allegedly set up by them.

In his statement recorded on November 21, 2008, before the investigating agency, the businessman (witness) had claimed that Purohit met him two years ago and thereafter they shared good relations wherein Purohit also informed him about various activities of Abhinav Bharat.

The witness claimed that around March 2008, Purohit introduced him to Pandey when he was in Pune. The witness told Pandey that he was active in rehabilitating the Kashmiri Pandits and had assured Pandey that he would provide financial assistance for all his work.

The witness in his statement highlighted the financial assistance given by another Pune-based businessman to Purohit and Pandey. He claimed that somewhere after July 2008, the businessman gave him ₹10 lakh, which had to be given to Purohit and Pandey.

The witness also claimed that he had paid ₹1 lakh to Pandey and had given two cheques from his friends for ₹2.25 lakh. However, since he was not comfortable with Purohit holding public meetings and running such organisations while in the army, he kept himself at a distance from the organisation.

The witness had also claimed that during one of his meetings Purohit had given him a report which claimed that Pakistan intelligence agency ISI had paid ₹21 crore to one of the senior leaders of RSS.

One of the accused in the Malegaon blast had also written to the Bombay High court seeking arraignment of the witness as an accused due to his proximity to Purohit and Pandey and the financial assistance that he provided them. However, the court rejected the plea, saying that the officers had taken note of the statement and no further action was needed regarding probing the involvement of the said witness.