Malegaon Bomb Blast Case: After 17 Years, All Seven Accused Acquitted; Pragya Singh Thakur and Colonel Purohit Also Given a Clean Chit

Mumbai: In a major verdict, a special NIA court in Mumbai on [insert date] acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case — 17 years after the tragic incident. Among those acquitted are sitting BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit.

While delivering the judgment, Special Judge A.K. Lahoti stated that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges and that the accused were entitled to the benefit of the doubt. The court further held that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) did not apply to this case.

In his verdict, the judge noted that the prosecution could not establish that the motorcycle in which the bomb was planted belonged to Pragya Thakur. The court also observed that Thakur had renounced worldly life and become a monk two years before the incident took place.

The court found it difficult to accept the prosecution’s claim of a conspiracy among the accused. There was also no evidence to suggest that funds collected through the organisation “Abhinav Bharat,” reportedly founded by Pragya Thakur and Colonel Purohit, were used to execute the blast.

The verdict further stated that there was no credible evidence to support the allegation that Colonel Purohit had sourced RDX from Kashmir and assembled the bomb at his residence.

The Malegaon blast occurred on September 29, 2008, in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, killing 10 people and injuring more than 100. The case was initially registered at the Azad Nagar Police Station and later re-registered by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in November 2008, with charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

The ATS filed its first chargesheet in January 2009, followed by a supplementary chargesheet in April 2011. However, in April 2011, the Ministry of Home Affairs took suo motu cognizance of the case and transferred it to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for further investigation.

In May 2016, the NIA filed its second supplementary chargesheet, dropping MCOCA provisions against Pragya Thakur, Colonel Purohit, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, and Sudhakar Chaturvedi.

Later, in December 2017, Special Judge S.D. Tekale also dropped the MCOCA charges and framed charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, and UAPA.

Now, in its latest verdict, the court has acquitted all seven accused on the grounds of insufficient evidence.