16 years on, victims of 2008 Malegaon blast await justice

Mumbai: Sixteen years have passed since a blast rocked Maharashtra's Malegaon on a quiet September day in 2008, killing six people and injuring more than 100, and the trial in the case has just about reached the concluding stages.

While the prosecution has presented its final say in the case, the defence is likely to commence its closing arguments on September 30.

However, for the victims and families who lost their loved ones, it has been a long-drawn battle for justice.

Six people were killed and more than 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from Mumbai in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.

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

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad initially began a probe into the case before it was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2011.

"The trial is finally nearing the end, and we can expect the court to conclude it soon," said advocate Shahid Nadeem, representing the victim side.

He said in the pursuit of justice, victims have intervened and opposed the discharge and bail applications of the accused, but the ATS's lack of interest in the case has been their biggest concern.

Nisar Ahmed, who lost his son Sayed Azhar to the blast, expressed his anguish at the slow progress of the trial but said he has faith in the court.

Ahmed said the trial has dragged on for 16 years, as the alleged accused were influential persons.

He requested the court not to allow anybody to take it for granted and emphasised the early disposal of the case in the interest of the victims.

During the trial, the prosecution examined 323 prosecution witnesses, of which 34 turned hostile. Eight defence witnesses were examined by the accused, including seven called by Purohit.

After taking over the case, the NIA filed a chargesheet in 2016, giving a clean chit to Thakur and the three other accused — Shyam Sahu, Praveen Takalki and Shivnarayan Kalsangra — stating that it found no evidence against them and they should be discharged from the case.

The NIA court, however, absolved only Sahu, Kalsangra and Takalki and ruled that Thakur would have to face the charges.

At that time, it had dropped stringent charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused.

On October 30, 2018, the court framed charges against seven accused under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The accused were booked under sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA and under IPC sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups).

The trial began in 2018 with the examination of the first witness in the case. The recording of the testimony of the prosecution witness was completed in September last year.