Malegaon blast: All seven accused including Pragya Thakur acquitted, court says suspicion not enough

PTC News Desk: Nearly seventeen years after a powerful bomb blast ripped through Maharashtra's Malegaon killing six people and injuring over hundred, a special court in Mumbai acquitted all the seven accused including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit.

Special Judge AK Lahoti observed that mere suspicion is not enough to take the case forward as prosecution failed to establish allegations against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

"There has been a grave incident against society. But the court cannot convict just on moral grounds," the judge said.

Besides former BJP MP and Colonel Purohit, the others who have been acquitted are Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi alias Shankaracharya, and Sameer Kulkarni.

On September 29, 2008, a powerful bomb blast tore through Maharashtra's Malegaon when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle (LML Freedom bike) went off killing six people and injuring others. The blast took place during the holy month of Ramzan.

The court said that although there are allegations that RDX was used to cause the explosion, there is no evidence that the RDX was stored at Lt Col Purohit's residence, and neither is there any proof that he assembled the bomb. It added that there is also no evidence to prove that the bike in question was owned by Pragya Thakur.