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Malegaon blast: Sadhvi Pragya gets clean chit in NIA chargesheet
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a chargesheet in a special NIA court in connection with the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case.
Mumbai : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a chargesheet in a special NIA court in connection with the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case.
In the chargesheet, the NIA has decided to drop Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's name as an accused.
"The chargesheet has been filed. We are about to get the copies. They have recommended to discharge four people, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur," defence lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar said.
Besides Sadhvi Pragya, Praveen Takkalki and two others have also been discharged in the case.
"During investigation, sufficient evidences have not been found against the below mentioned persons and NIA has submitted in the Final Report that the prosecution against them is not maintainable -Pragya Singh Thakur, Shiv Narayan Kalsangra, Shyam Bhavarlal Sahu, Praveen Takkalki, Lokesh Sharma and Dhan Singh Choudhury," the NIA said in its chargesheet.
"Some people want to move to court against the discharge recommended. We are challenging them," he added.
The NIA has decided to drop charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the key accused, Colonel Prasad Purohit, and all other accused. They will now be charged under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The Supreme Court had on Friday directed the NIA to file a chargesheet against Lt. Col Srikant Purohit, former military intelligence officer and an accused in the case.
The September 29, 2008 Malegaon blasts, in which seven were killed and another 80 were injured, was the first major case in which the involvement of right-wing Hindu extremists came to the fore.
