The special NIA court here declared a key witness in the 2008 Malegoan blast case hostile on Saturday after he repudiated his testimony made before the Maharashtra ATS. When the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad was investigating the case, the witness stated that in 2008, he attended a “adventure camp” where he heard about the spread of terrorism in India as well as Pakistan’s role in weakening the country through other ways such as narcotics and counterfeit currency.
Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, one of the seven accused in the case, had given a lecture at this occasion, according to the witness’s statement at the time. Despite the fact that it was termed a “adventure camp,” the witness claimed that no adventure was taught there. However, during his evidence before the court on Saturday, the witness denied making any such utterances, prompting special judge P R Sitre to deem him hostile.
According to special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal, 188 witnesses have been questioned thus far, and this is the second witness to become hostile. Purohit is joined in the case by Bhopal BJP Lok Sabha MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retd), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sameer Kulkarni, who are all on bail.
They will be tried under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (IPC). On September 29, 2008, an explosive device connected to a motorcycle went off outside a mosque in Malegaon town, around 200 kilometres from Mumbai, killing six people and injuring over 100 others.
