Malegaon 2008 Blast Case Verdict Today: Pragya Thakur, Army Officers Among Accused

Seventeen years after a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded at a busy junction in Malegaon, killing six people and injuring 101 others, a special court in Mumbai designated for cases under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is expected to pronounce its verdict in the case on Thursday.

The explosion occurred on 29 September 2008, during the month of Ramadan, in a predominantly Muslim area of Malegaon in Maharashtra’s Nashik district. It was the first instance in the country where a group of alleged Hindu extremists were prosecuted for carrying out a terror attack.

The accused include former Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur (55), serving army officer Lt Col Prasad Purohit (53), and five others. Among them are retired army officer Ramesh Shivaji Upadhyay (73), Pune-based businessman Samir Sharad Kulkarni (53), and Purohit’s associates Ajay Eknath Rahirkar (56), Sudhakar Omkarnath Chaturvedi (53), and Sudharkar Dhar Dwivedi, also known as Swami Amrutanand Devtirth (56), a self-proclaimed Shankaracharya. The trial began in 2018 and concluded in April 2025.

In its final arguments, the NIA alleged that the blast had been planned to instil fear in a section of the Muslim population, disrupt essential services, foment communal tension, and undermine internal security. The accused were charged under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code, including sections related to terrorism, criminal conspiracy, murder, and promoting enmity between religious groups.

Initially, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was in charge of the investigation. It arrested Thakur and two others after tracing the motorcycle used in the blast to her. The ATS claimed that the attack had been carried out by an extreme right-wing group led by Purohit, Upadhyay, and Dwivedi. According to the ATS charge sheet, Purohit, then a serving officer in Military Intelligence, founded the organisation Abhinav Bharat in February 2007. The stated aim of the group was to turn India into a Hindu rashtra named Aryawart.

The agency alleged that meetings were held across the country where participants expressed concern over rising “jihadi” activity and articulated anti-Muslim views. In one such meeting in Bhopal in April 2008, Purohit allegedly proposed that a bomb blast be carried out in Malegaon to avenge atrocities committed by Muslims on Hindus. Thakur, according to the ATS, responded by offering manpower for the attack. The RDX used in the blast was allegedly supplied by Purohit.

On 20 January 2009, the ATS arrested 11 individuals and filed a charge sheet against them, along with two absconding accused,Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, both said to be associated with Thakur. The agency also invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), citing the involvement of Rakesh Dhawde, an accused previously linked to other blast cases. Another arrest followed, that of Pravin Takkalaki, an alleged aide of Purohit, and a supplementary charge sheet was filed against him.

In April 2011, the case was transferred to the NIA, a central agency created following the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. The ATS investigation came under criticism for alleged procedural lapses, including claims of forced confessions, planted evidence, and the misuse of MCOCA.

In May 2016, the NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet exonerating Thakur and five others, stating that there was no evidence to link her directly to the blast. It said that the motorcycle, though registered in Thakur’s name, had been in the possession of the absconding accused Kalsangra at the time of the explosion. The NIA also dropped MCOCA charges, citing flaws in how the ATS applied them. It noted that some confessions, such as that of Chaturvedi, were likely obtained through torture and were unreliable. The agency described the ATS investigation as having several “lacunae”.

In December 2017, the special NIA court dropped MCOCA charges but retained those under the UAPA and the IPC. It discharged Kalsangra, Sahu and Takkalaki, but refused to discharge Thakur and six others. In Thakur’s case, the court cited her presence at the April 2008 meeting in Bhopal where the Malegaon blast was allegedly discussed.

Although she continued to stand trial, Thakur was granted bail and contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket. She won the Bhopal seat.

The 2008 blast was the second terror attack in Malegaon in as many years. On 8 September 2006, during the observance of Shab-e-Barat, four blasts occurred near a mosque complex, killing 31 people and injuring 312. That case remains unsolved. Initial arrests of Muslim men were later overturned, and subsequent investigations pointing to possible Hindu extremist involvement are still under consideration by the trial court.

The verdict in the 2008 blast case is expected later today.