Malegaon bomb blast: 20th witness turns hostile in 2008 case that killed 6 people

Another witness in the 2008 Malegaon Bomb Blast case turned hostile on Wednesday, March 30,  saying that he never recorded a statement before the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

The witness who was presented before the court today (March 30) refused to identify Lt Col Purohit, one of the key accused in the case. He was thus declared hostile and the trial was adjourned to Thursday. 

A prosecution witness is declared hostile when he or she does not support the prosecution’s case in court.

As many as 20 witnesses have turned hostile in the Malegaon bombing case in which the BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur is a prime accused.

On March 24, the 19th witness, who is a former army officer turned hostile after testifying before a special NIA court. 
He only recognized Lt Col Prasad Purohit and did not know any of the other accused. The witness said he never met Pragya Thakur, nor did he attend any meeting of the right-wing group 'Abhinav Bharat’, he said.

Malegaon blast case

Six people were killed and over 100 others were injured after a bomb strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, Maharashtra, on 29 September 2008. The town, about 200 km from Mumbai, is known as communally sensitive. As many as 235 witnesses have been deposed in the trial so far.

All seven accused are facing charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, and relevant charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and all of them are out on bail.

Besides Thakur and Purohit, other accused are Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sameer Kulkarni.

They were booked under Sections 16 (committing the terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit a terrorist act) of the UAPA. 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 IPC. Relevant provisions of the Explosive Substances Act have also been invoked in the FIR.

The National Investigation Agency took over the case in 2013.

(With agency inputs)