Malegaon Blast: Pragya Thakur Appears; NIA Court Adjourns Hearing

Thakur had missed the earlier hearing in December.

BJP MP Pragya Thakur appeared before a special NIA court on 4 January 

(Photo: PTI)

BJP MP Pragya Thakur, one of the accused in the Malegaon blast case of 2008, appeared before a special NIA court in Mumbai on 4 January.

The court, however, adjourned the hearing and asked the lawmaker to be present for hearing whenever required.

In the previous date of hearing, on 19 December 2020, Thakur had skipped court claiming that she was unwell. That was the second time in a month that she failed to appear before the court.

At the time, Thakur had said that she had been hospitalised in Delhi.

The special court had asked all the accused to remain present before it on that day. However, only Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahikar and Sudhakar Dwiwedi appeared before the court. The remaining accused — Pragya Singh Thakur, Ramesh Upadhayay, Sudhakar Diwedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi — could not appear before the court.

Case History

Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town in north Maharashtra, on 29 September 2008. The court had framed terror charges against Purohit, Thakur and five other accused in October 2018. They have been charged under Sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

(With inputs from ANI and Hindustan Times)