Malegaon Blast Accused Lt Col Purohit Gets Bail After 9 Years

Purohit has challenged the April 25 Bombay High Court order which granted bail to another accused, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, but rejected his plea.His wife said nine years have been a rocky path and had full faith in the apex court.

Purohit had told the apex court that till date charges have not been framed against him while those under the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) have already been dropped. He told the court that he has been in jail for the past nine years and was entitled to bail.

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit (retired), the main accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast which killed seven people. A bench of Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre granted conditional bail to Purohit asking him not to tamper with evidence. Purohit is lodged in Taloja jail.

The investigating agencies had earlier allegedly attributed the blast to right-wing group Abhinav Bharat. (FILE PIC/AFP: Forensic experts search for clues at the blast site in Malegaon.) INFO/IANS

The scene of the blast site is pictured in Malegaon, some 175 miles (280 kilometres) northeast of India's financial hub Mumbai on September 30, 2008. At least seven persons were killed in the explosion. FILE PIC/AFP.