Maharashtra court extends judicial custody of Pragya Singh in Malegaon blast case

Nashik/Bhopal/Lucknow/Ambala, Nov 17 : A court in Nashik in Maharashtra on Monday extended the judicial custody of Sadhavi Pragya Singh, arrested in connection with the September 29 Malegaon blast case, till November 29.

The judicial custody of seven others, apart from Singh were also extended

The accused were produced before Joint Senior Civil Judge H.K. Ganatra after their remand to judicial custody expired today.

Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has so far arrested ten suspects including Sadhavi Pragya Singh in connection with the September 29 Malegaon blast case.

Five people were killed in the blasts that hit the two Muslim-dominated towns of Maharashtra within minutes of each other on September 29.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashed at Central ruling Congress party for defaming Hindus in the case without proper evidences.

"If someone is indicted in any case there must be investigation, evidences should be collected and should be produced before the court. But Congress party is behaving contrary to this. People who have been indicted, against whom verdict have been passed by the Session court, High court and the Supreme court and termed the case as rarest of the rare and given verdict for exemplanary punishment and handed over death sentience to Afzal Guru (Parliament attack accused) but Congress till date has not implemented the court order. On the other hand the government is defaming those against whom the investigations are still in progress and the matter is sub-judice,"enkaiah Naidu, BJP leader told reporters in Bhopal.

Meanwhile Hindu activists took to street in Lucknow demanding immediate release of Singh.

"She is a victim of conspiracy and the worst thing is that she has been subjected to four narco tests which was not conducted even in case of terrorists. You must not have heard that a terrorist like Afzal Guru, who is currently in jail, has been subjected to narco tests. The authorities showed that they have detained her on 23rd but she was taken into custody 15 days earlier. Only she can explain the torture she has been subjected to in those 15 days. We only want that she should be released," Mahantkhilashwaranand, an activist said.

For years, bomb attacks in India have mostly been blamed on Islamist militants. Even attacks on mosques were often blamed on Islamists seeking to spark communal tension between India's majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

Police in Ambala meanwhile said they have sent a team to Mumbai to investigate the use of RDX in the Samjhauta blast case in February 2007. "Case is under investigation a three-member team has left for Mumbai and we cannot share with you anything until final report is there. We have found RDX, TNT and surphur chlorate," Bharti Arora, Senior Superintendent of Police told reporters.

Prasad Purohit, who was detained by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), may have supplied the RDX that was used to set off blasts in February 2007 on the Samjhauta Express, a bi-weekly train between Delhi and Lahore, the ATS believes.

Purohit's arrest earlier this month came on the heels of the arrests of three Hindus for their suspected involvement in blasts in Malegaon town in Maharashtra and Modasa in Gujarat in September, and is a dramatic shift from the blame usually leveled on Islamists.

ANI