2008 Malegaon blast case: Special NIA court acquits all seven accused, including Pragya Thakur, Lt. Col. Purohit

Seventeen years after the blast, a special NIA court in Mumbai has acquitted all the seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Special Judge A.K. Lahoti delivered the verdict.

The NIA court, in its judgment, said that the prosecution ‘failed to prove the case’ and that the accused ‘deserved the benefit of doubt’.

The provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were not applicable to the case, the court said.

The judge observed that the prosecution could not prove that the bike to which the bomb was allegedly strapped, belonged to Pragya Thakur.