A bail application of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, main accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts that killed eight and injured 101, has been rejected by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court.
On May 13 this year, the agency
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On May 30, advocate Prashant Maggu, appearing for Pragya Sadhvi, filed the bail plea seeking to drop her name from the list of the accused. The application stated that her bail application was rejected earlier because investigation was still going on, but since the NIA has dropped MCOCA charges against her, she is entitled to bail. The plea noted that she was been in jail for several years.
Sadhvi Pragya was charged by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in 2009. It stated that it was her motorcycle that was used to plant the bomb that killed six people and injured 101.
The NIA found the evidence against her to be the weakest and said the evidence was not substantial. In its supplementary charge sheet, the agency also said that the motorcycle, which was registered in her name, was used by an absconding accused.
On June 17, 2016, 64-year-old businessman Nisar Bilal, who was injured in the blast, objected to Sadhvi Pragya’s bail and filed an intervention application before the special NIA court of judge S.D. Tekale. And the court allowed Mr. Bilal to file the intervention application.
On June 8, 2016, Mr. Bilal moved an application to discard the charge sheet filed by the NIA. The application claimed that the charge sheet appears to be politically influenced, and seems to be prepared by the government to help and facilitate the accused persons to come out from jail.
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