The National Investigation Agency is yet to begin its probe in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case that was earlier handled by the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS). The central agency had been directed to carry out further investigations in the case almost five years after the incident.
“The ATS had earlier filed charge sheets in the case. The accused then moved the court against the NIA investigation. The matter is now pending in the apex court,” said a senior NIA official.
The case pertains to two bomb blasts at Bhikku Chowk in Malegaon, in which seven people were killed on September 29, 2008. The Maharashtra ATS took up investigations and identified 16 suspects, Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit.
The case had been registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act), the Explosive Substances Act and the MCOCA.
The ATS filed charge sheets against 14 arrested accused persons in January 2009 and then in April 2011, before a MCOCA special court in Mumbai. Subsequently, the NIA was directed to conduct further investigations.
“As the matter has been pending in court, we have not been able to even question those arrested by the Maharashtra ATS,” said the official.
