HC bail for two in Malegaon case: ‘Nothing on them’

Twelve people have been arrested for their involvement in the terror attack that killed six and injured nearly a hundred people in the communally sensitive town. The High Court has asked Kalsangra and Sahu,both from Indore,to furnish sureties of Rs 1 lakh each.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had claimed that the terror attacks were planned and executed by a Hindu radical outfit and had named Sadhvi Pragyasingh Thakur,Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retd) as some of the key accused in the case. Rameshchandra,Shivnarayan’s brother,is still at large.

The ATS had said it had found two bomb timers at Shivnarayan’s house,which it alleged had been given to him by his brother and that he was arrested based on statements of witnesses. It had charged Sahu,who owns a mobile phone shop,with supplying the group with SIM cards. He is also accused of helping another accused,Ramji,with SIM cards which were allegedly used to plan the blast. The ATS had used records of these telephonic conversations,abot 400 minutes,with Sadhvi Pragya since as part of the chargesheet.

While the court said the duo was aware about Ramchandra’s involvement in unlawful activities and about his strong views aboutHindutva,it is not sufficient to accuse them of being part of the conspiracy plotted to carry out the blasts in the textile town on September 29,2008.

Opposing their bail application,special public prosecutor Rohini Salian said the investigations by the National Investigation Agency (NIA),which took over the probe earlier this year,are underway. Salian argued that in cases of terror attacks it is very hard to find direct evidence to show the role of the conspirators.

Unimpressed,Justice Thipsay said: “The NIA,which has taken over the probe recently from the State ATS,has been unable to point out specific evidence against the two accused and are claiming that the probe is still on. The trial is not yet started in the case and in such circumstances the accused is not required to languish in jail.”

“I will advice the investigating agency about their further legal course only after we get a copy of the (HC) order,” said Salian,adding that the decision to appeal in the Supreme Court has not been taken yet. ATS chief Rakesh Maria refused to comment as the investigation has been taken over by the NIA.