Malegaon blast: After HC snub, Lt Col Shrikant Purohit moves SC seeking bail

After the Bombay High Court rejected the appeal filed by Lt Col Purohit against the special court order rejecting his bail in 2008 Malegaon blasts, he has moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking bail. On April 25, the Bombay High Court had in its order refused to grant bail to Purohit.

Lawyer, Neela Gokhle had mentioned the matter before the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar The Supreme Court, however, said it would hear the matter in the due course of timing.

Purohit is facing charges of murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and is also being charged with relevant sections under The Arms Act, The Indian Explosive Substance Act, and UAPA.

Meanwhile, following Sadhvi Pragya Thakur's accusations of being a victim of Congress' conspiracy, the grand old party said it was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that helped the former in getting bail.

Congress' Raju Waghmare quoted the government's counsel in the Malegaon Blast case, who alleged the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of putting pressure on her to go slow, saying that there was a scheme to let Pragya get bail.

Days after getting bail from the Bombay High Court, Sadhvi Pragya yesterday alleged that she was a victim of the Congress government's conspiracy.

"I am a victim of Congress government's conspiracy, I suffered nine years of injustice," Thakur said. Thakur criticized Congress leader P. Chidambaram for linking saffron to terrorism.

"For misbeliever, saffron is always linked to terrorism, because they are afraid of it. For the demon, saffron is the strongest weapon," she added. Thakur said she would undergo treatment and blamed the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) for her ailment.

On Tuesday, Thakur was granted bail. She was directed to submit her passport to the National Investigative Agency (NIA) court and appear on the dates mentioned before the trial court. The NIA had informed the court that it had no objection to the court granting bail to Thakur.

The blast took place on September 29, 2008, opposite the Shakil Goods Transport Company in Malegaon. It was caused by an explosive device fitted to a motorcycle.

In 2009, the ATS charge sheeted 12 alleged 'Hindu extremists', including Col. Purohit and Thakur for the crime. The ATS charge sheet stated that Thakur's scooter was used for the blast by prime accused Ram Kalsangra (absconding).

-ANI