Mumbai: 

A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Thursday said it is likely to pronounce the judgment in the 2008 Malegaon blast case on July 31. It also observed that the matter has voluminous documents which need some time to peruse.

Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from Mumbai in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. During the trial, the prosecution examined 323 witnesses, of whom 34 turned hostile.

Almost 17 years after the blast, the NIA court had reserved the verdict on April 19 for May 8. However, special judge AK Lahoti, presiding over the case, kept it for the next date. The judge told the accused persons present in the court that the case has voluminous documents, and it will take some time to pass the judgment. He asked all the accused in the case to be present on the next date, i.e., July 31.

Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit, BJP leader Pragya Thakur, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni are facing trial in the case under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The case was initially probed by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), which arrested 11 people and charged them under MCOCA in 2010. All of them were found to be associated with Abhinav Bharat, who imparted training to some youths in weapons and explosives at Bhonsla Military School in Pune. The preliminary investigation was led by then ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was martyred in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. During the investigation, it was found that the bike used in the blast was owned by Pragya Singh Thakur, who was arrested. NIA took over the case in 2011.

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