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Malegaon blast case: Special NIA court adjourns hearing for tomorrow
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on Monday appeared before the special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Mumbai. The court, however, adjourned the hearing for December 5 and asked the Thakur to be present in court whenever asked after she sought exemption from daily appearance in court on health and security grounds, according to ANI.
Thakur’s lawyer, advocate JP Mishra, had confirmed that she will be appearing in the NIA court on Monday. Mishra had said on December 19 last year that probe agency was delaying the trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and not them.
The special court had asked all the accused to remain present before it on that day. However, only Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahikar and Sudhakar Dwiwedi appeared before the court. The remaining accused — Pragya Singh Thakur, Ramesh Upadhayay, Sudhakar Diwedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi — could not appear before the court.
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. The court had framed terror charges against Purohit, Thakur and five other accused in October 2018. They have been charged under Sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
They have also been charged under sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups), of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant provisions of the Explosive Substances Act.
(With agency inputs)
