Court drops MCOCA in Malegaon blasts case

Mumbai, Aug 1: A special court on Friday, Jul 31, revoked the application of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the Malegaon blast case.

This move comes as a major set back for the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police, as the MCOCA will not be applied to the 11 suspects involved in the blasts that took place on Sep 29, 2008, including former armyman Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.

This essentially means that the accused will not be facing trial under that strict anti-terror law. The case will also be sent back to a regular court in Nashik. And the accused can avail bail.

The prosecution in the case too will suffer major roadblock as they can no longer use the confessions of the accused to police as evidence.

The main reason behind judge, Y D Shinde's ruling was the prosecution's failure to prove that all the accused were members of a single organised crime syndicate.

The Malegaon blasts that took place in 2008 killed six people when a bomb fitted to a motorcycle detonated.

OneIndia News