2008 Malegaon blast: MCOCA court grants bail to 1 accused

Mumbai, May 22: The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Wednesday granted bail to one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

"NIA had to file the chargesheet by Tuesday as the (stipulated) time was expiring, but they did not seek any further extension for filing chargesheet, so today we filed for bail," said JP Mishra, Dhan Singh's lawyer.

Singh was granted bail against a bond of Rs 25,000.

Singh has been booked in both 2006 and 2008 Malegaon blast cases; he would not come out of jail for now as he was chargesheeted in the 2006 Malegaon blast case today.

In the 2008 case, NIA contends that Dhan Singh was instrumental in transporting key accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh's motorbike (which was used in the blast), apart from abetting "terrorist acts in various places in India".

Thirteen persons including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit were arrested for carrying out a blast at Malegaon on September 29, 2008, killing six and injuring 100.

The trial is yet to start as some of the accused have challenged the invocation of MCOCA before the Supreme Court.

PTI