Mumbai, 31 July (HS): All seven accused, including BJP MP Pragya

Singh Thakur, have been acquitted by a special NIA Court on Thursday, in the

September 29, 2008 Malegaon blast case. Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Retired Major

Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, and Sameer Kulkarni were the

other accused. Six people died and over 100 were injured in the blast.

In his verdict, Judge of the NIA Court A K Lahoti said that the prosecution

failed to prove that the bomb was placed in that particular motorcycle.

Initially, the enquiry into the case was initiated by the ATS and was

later handed over to NIA, which filed an additional chargesheet in 2016. NIA

had pleaded that there is no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Shyam Sahu,

Praveen Taklikar, and Shivnarayan Kalsingra. NIA had also demanded their acquittal.

However, the Special NIA Court said that adequate evidence against them are

available with the court.

The hearing in the case was completed on April 19, 2025, and the court

had reserved the verdict, which was pronounced on Thursday.

The Supreme Court had granted bail to all the accused during the

proceedings at the NIA Court. The court recorded evidence of 323 witnesses, of

whom more than 30 died during the court proceedings, and 36 turned hostile.

The Judge in his verdict stated that the prosecution failed to prove

that the blast occurred at a particular motorcycle. They also could not prove

that Prasad Purohit supplied the RDX used in the blast. They also failed to

prove that the motorcycle belonged to Sadhvi Pragya Singh.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Ajay Vasant Mardikar