2008 Malegaon blast: Special NIA Court rejects bail for Sadhvi Pragya

Mumbai: A special NIA Courton Tuesday rejected the bail application of Sadhvi Pragya in regard with the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Pragya's lawyer Prashant Maggu filed the bail plea earlier on May 30 after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) decided to drop her name from the list of accused in its chargesheet. On May 13, the NIA decided not to name Pragya in its chargesheet in connection with the case. The agency also dropped charges against her under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

The NIA in its chargesheet recommended discharging four accused - Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Shyam Sahu, Shiv Narayan Kalsangra and Praveen Takkalki - saying there was no evidence to prosecute them. The Malegaon 2008 blast case was a first case in which Hindu extremists, including Lt. Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, were chargesheeted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in 2009. The September 2008 blast in the Muslim-majority Malegaon town killed six people and injured 101 others. The NIA took over the case in 2011.