Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, appeared before a special NIA court in Mumbai on Monday.
Thakur, one of the seven accused in the case, arrived at approximately 2 pm, which was nearly two hours later than the other accused. She informed the court about her health issues, which hinder her ability to wake up early in the morning. Consequently, the court adjourned the matter to October 3 for recording the statements of the accused.
On September 14, the prosecution had apprised the court that the process of recording evidence in the case had been completed, and there was no need to examine any more prosecution witnesses. After the completion of evidence recording, the court proceeds to record the statements of the accused under section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). This section allows the court to question the accused generally about the case, giving them an opportunity to personally explain any circumstances that appear in the evidence against them.
Only six of the accused, including Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sameer Kulkarni, appeared before the court on Monday. Sudhakar Dwivedi was absent, and his lawyer cited religious rituals as the reason for his inability to attend court, seeking an exemption from appearance. However, the court denied the plea and issued a bailable warrant of Rs 5,000 against Dwivedi.
The Malegaon blast, which occurred on September 29, 2008, involved an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle that detonated near a mosque in Malegaon, a town located about 200 km from Mumbai in north Maharashtra. Initially, the case was investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) before being transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2011.
