Pancha witness identifies in court, bikes found in Malegaon after 2008 blast at sit

MUMBAI: Almost 11 years after six persons died when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, on September 29, 2008, a witness on Monday before a trial court identified two motorbikes found at the site, post-blast. One motorbike –LML Freedom-- the prosecution had alleged is registered in the name of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur from Madhya Pradesh who is facing trial for the blast. The bikes were displayed as evidence during the ongoing trial.
Two motorcyles--one was a Unicorn Honda and another LML Freedom, along with five bicycles were brought to court as evidence from the office of ATS at Kala Chowkie, where they were parked.
The witness in court was one of the two panchas of seizure of the bikes from the spot after the blast, in Malegaon which is in Nashik district, about 250 km from Mumbai. There were 33 articles seized during the panchanma. These seven bikes were the last remaining items to be produced in court during trial NIA. The others were already produced and taken on record including bomb-splinters, blood swabs, burnt items and slippers.
The five cycles were wrapped in a gunny bag and bore seal and signatures of panchas and police.
The panchanama done by the local crime branch soon after the blast said the two bikes were wrapped also gunny bag and sealed.
But when produced in court, they were not in a gunny bag and there was no seal or signature of the panchas.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court Judge Vinod Padalkar went down along with the witness Shakeel Khalifa , special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal, defence lawyers J P Mishra and Prashant Maggoo and one of the accused Sameer Kulkarni and others to where the bikes were parked in the court complex in Mumbai.
The judge recorded that the bike was silver-gold colour. Headlight case and the front mudguard was visible.
The witness in his deposition to questions asked by SPP Rasal had earlier stated that the LML Freedom bike was a “golden’ colour.
Mishra, defence counsel for Sadhvi began to cross-examine the witness and he will continue the cross on Tuesday.
The NIA who took over the probe from Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) in 2011 had given Sadhvi a clean chit and sought to have the case against her dropped after concluding that the motorbike was not in her custody but was being used by a wanted co-accused Ramji Kalsangra for over two years before the blast. The ATS had said Kalsangra was her associate to who she had provided the bike.