On 31st July, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai acquitted 7 accused including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt. Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. An investigation into the potential planting of evidence by a Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer was also recommended by special judge AK Lahoti.
According to the NIA inquiry, two Army officers observed Shekhar Bagde who is currently the assistant commissioner of police (ACP), visit the residence of the accused Sudhakar Chaturvedi on 3rd November 2008. The agency took over the probe regarding this case from the ATS in 2011.
In its chargesheet and court submissions, the NIA also disclosed that Bagde had unlawfully entered the residence of Sudhakar Chaturvedi, an individual implicated in the Malegaon blast and planted traces of RDX there. Chaturvedi served as a military informant and resided with Lt Col Purohit in the Deolali Cantonment region of Nashik.
Purohit was also apprehended in connection with this case, facing charges of conspiracy in addition to supplying RDX and manufacturing explosives. The judge acknowledged that the NIA referenced the statements of an army major and a subedar during its investigation. Both individuals reported that when Chaturvedi was away from home, Bagde quietly entered his residence and hid evidence of RDX there.
The two Army men also informed the court that Bagde instructed them not to report this to anyone, however, two days later, the ATS team conducted a raid on the house and used cotton swabs to find a substance resembling RDX, which they reported was used in the Malegaon blast.
The court remarked that the actions of Bagde arouse suspicion. Furthermore, the ATS failed to offer any clarification on this issue. Hence, it concluded that the entire case points to the likelihood of “evidence planting” (deliberate creation of false evidence).
The court also stated that certain medical certificates which documented the injuries of the purported victims were provided by non-accredited physicians at the request of ATS officials and refused to accept them. It discovered that some medical certificates had been intentionally altered and mandated an investigation into the bogus medical certificates.
The Supreme Court granted bail to Lt Col Purohit in 2017 and highlighted the dubious conduct of ATS official Bagde. It stated, “During scrutiny of the proceedings of the Court of Inquiry (CoI) carried out by the Army, a different story of assembling of IED in the House of Sudhakar Chaturvedi (A-11) came to light.”
“During re-examination of the witnesses by the NIA who deposed before the Court of Inquiry (CoI), it was revealed that they suspiciously found API Bagde of ATS in the house of A-11 when A-11 was not present in the house. On considering the facts narrated by the witnesses, the question arises here as to why API Bagde visited the house of A-11 in his absence,” it declared.
A copy of the ruling will be forwarded to the DGP (Director General of Police) Maharashtra, DG (Director General) ATS, and DG NIA. At the ATS’s request, the judge also asked authorities to look into the falsification of the medical records of 6 of the 101 bomb victims and those of unlicensed medical professionals.
The judgment regarding the Malegaon blast spans over 1000 pages and indicates that Maharashtra’s leading investigative body, the ATS, along with the central agency, the NIA were unable to uncover any substantial evidence to support the case against the accused persons.
How the probe was messed up by ATS
The judgment decisively dismantled the prosecution’s case. The court ruled that no cogent material was presented against any of the accused. Specifically, the court noted that the ATS failed to produce any evidence that the motorcycle used in the blast belonged to Pragya Thakur. The judge observed that she had become a Sadhvi at least two years prior to the blast and the prosecution failed to establish her link to the plot.
The court noted that “no material was brought on record” to show that explosives were ever stored at Col Purohit’s residence. It added that even basic investigative procedures were ignored: the sketch of the alleged storage room was never drawn, and the forensic samples were found to be contaminated. The court further rejected the ATS’s narrative around Abhinav Bharat, a right-wing organisation allegedly founded by Thakur and Purohit, saying there was no evidence that the group used its funds for terror activities.