Thakur was taken into custody in October 2008, and 10 others were later arrested, among them Lt Col Purohit, on charges of creating a militant group called Abhinav Bharat.
After 17 years of court battles, probes, and several twists, the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai will finally deliver its verdict in the 2008 Malegaon blast case today. The accused include BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, in a case that was a turning point in India's counter-terror war.
The explosion occurred on September 29, 2008, in a Muslim-concentrated locality in Malegaon of Maharashtra's Nashik district, in the sacred month of Ramadan. A motorcycle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) exploded, resulting in six deaths and injuring 101 individuals.
The probe was initially headed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which determined that the LML Freedom motorcycle on which the blast occurred was in the name of Pragya Singh Thakur. Forensic experts detected the erased engine and chassis numbers on the motorcycle, which were later reassembled to identify the ownership.
Thakur was taken into custody in October 2008, and 10 others were later arrested, among them Lt Col Purohit, on charges of creating a militant group called Abhinav Bharat. Offences were charged under the UAPA, IPC, Explosive Substances Act, and originally under MCOCA, which was dropped later.
The probe was transferred to the NIA in 2011, which had some stark questions for the ATS on its handling of the case. The NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet in 2016 and dropped the MCOCA charges, citing flaws in evidence collection. The agency proved that Thakur's motorcycle was in possession of absconding accused Ramchandra Kalsangra, thereby weakening the direct link.
Nevertheless, the special court decided that Thakur and six others were to be tried under UAPA, spurning NIA's request to exclude her from the case altogether.
The trial commenced in 2018 and ended on April 19, 2025. Charges were made under UAPA Sections 16 and 18, IPC Sections 302, 307, 120B, and many others. NIA claimed the blast was intended to terrorize the Muslim community and disrupt public order.
Today's ruling will constitute an important landmark in one of India's most politically and communally charged terror cases.
