Malegaon blast probe is headed nowhere. Here's why

The National Investigation Agency is well aware that it does not have a strong case in hand to keep the 2006 Malegaon blast case accused behind bars. Vicky Nanjappa reports

Just where is the Malegaon 2006 blast case probe headed?

Following the blast, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad arrested several Muslim youth. Over the years, the theory changed and the Hindus extremist angle came to the forefront. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was named as one of the main accused in the case.

Now, surprisingly, her name does not even figure in the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency, which took over the case from the Maharashtra ATS.

Sources told rediff.com that there was not enough evidence on hand to file a chargesheet against Sadhvi Pragya and that even if they were to file a supplementary chargesheet, her name may not figure in it.

The question now is whether Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur will walk free after spending so many years in jail amidst deteriorating health condition.

Her legal team sees this as a positive sign.

Her advocate, Ganesh Sovani told rediff.com that there is a long way to go before Sadhvi Pragya could walk free as there are two more cases against her.

In addition to this, the defence team is also questioning the decision to book her under the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act.

She is still under investigation for her alleged role in the Malegaon 2008 blasts case.

She is also an accused in the murder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Sunil Joshi, a case that emerges out of Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

The NIA says that the 2008 Malegaon and the Joshi murder cases are still under investigation and they are hopeful of finding evidence against her in these cases.

The investigators were earlier relying solely on the evidence that emerged from the confession of Swami Aseemanand. He, however, retracted his statement claiming that it was done under duress.

The NIA finds itself in a Catch 22 situation. Even as it has found it hard to gather evidence against any of the accused, it also has to deal with the original case set up by the Maharashtra ATS.

The ATS had named nine Muslim youth in the case. Even though the accused have been granted bail, till date no court has proclaimed them innocent.

There are two arguments to this. Some officers give the impression that each one is trying to out do the other. The NIA moved too quickly to overturn the findings of the ATS. The ATS argues that there ought to have been some more time taken before the names of the accused were changed so suddenly.

The NIA, however, says that it was the ATS which has caused this confusion. They were the ones who named the Muslim youth and it was late ATS chief Hemant Karkare who later claimed that the 2006 Malegaon blast was the handiwork of Hindu extremists.

This confusion has only led to prolonged trauma for several accused. The nine persons who are out on bail cannot claim with confidence that they have been exonerated.

In the case of Sadhvi Pragya Singh, she had to face an ordeal for nearly four years only to realise that her name does not even figure in the chargesheet. Her family says that the officers have been very unfair on her.

They are desperate to elicit information and have resorted to various third-degree tactics to force information out of her, her family claims. However she is strong and has sustained all this, her family claims.

They further allege that she was beaten by male police personnel and the fact that she was suffering from breast cancer was never taken into account. Her family claims that the right side of her body is paralysed and that she may not live for over a year.