Pragya's safety cover fortified, may get Z-security: Here's why

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested Thakur and others in the case, alleging they were part of a Hindu extremist group which carried out the blast. The NIA, in 2016, gave Thakur a clean chit, but the court did not discharge Thakur.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur (C) is welcomed during a rally before filing her nomination for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the parliamentary elections in Bhopal on April 23, 2019. - Some 190 million voters in 15 states are eligible to take part in the polls on the third of seven days of voting in the world's biggest election. (Photo by GAGAN NAYAR / AFP)

Bhopal: The security cover of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency, was strengthened on Wednesday, officials said. The decision was taken a day after a man holding black flag approached Thakur while she was filing her nomination papers on Tuesday. Her supporters later thrashed the man. Besides heightening the security at her residence, the number of security personnel around her has also been increased. According to informed sources, Thakur may be provided Z-category security. Earlier during the day, Thakur got a relief from a NIA court in Mumbai which rejected a plea to prohibit her from contesting elections, saying it has no power to do so. Special judge for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases V S Padalkar rejected the application filed by Nisar Sayyad, whose son was among those killed in the 2008 Malegaon blast. Sayyad had demanded that Thakur, accused of orchestrating the blast, be prohibited from contesting the Lok Sabha election. He had also urged the court to cancel her bail. "This court does not have any legal powers to prohibit anyone from contesting the polls. It is the job of electoral officers to decide. This court cannot stop the accused from contesting the polls," Judge Padalkar said. Sayyad approached the court after the BJP fielded Thakur as its Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh to take on Congress veteran Digvijay Singh. Six people were killed and over 100 injured in a blast at Malegaon, a communally sensitive textile town in north Maharashtra's Nashik district, on September 29, 2008.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested Thakur and others in the case, alleging they were part of a Hindu extremist group which carried out the blast. The NIA, in 2016, gave Thakur a clean chit, but the court did not discharge Thakur. It dropped charges against her under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), but she is still facing trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Indian Penal Code sections.