Six people were killed and 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in the North Maharashtra town of Malegaon. (File) A witness in the Malegaon 2008 blast trial turned hostile on Monday. This takes the count of witnesses not supporting the prosecution to 14. Led by National Investigation Agency (NIA), the prosecution has so far examined 219 witnesses in the trial against the seven accused.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) which investigated the case earlier, had recorded the statement of the witness on December 27, 2008.
The four-page statement which is a part of the ATS charge sheet claimed that he had, along with another person, met Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit when they put up a stall to sell ayurvedic medicines in Navi Mumbai in 2006.
The statement added that Purohit asked them to visit Nashik to meet Swami Shankaracharya. It was claimed that in Nashik, the Swami alleged to be Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi had shown them a CD on his laptop regarding ‘atrocities’ on Hindus and later, a discussion was held by an unnamed person, Purohit, and him. However, on Monday, the witness denied this during his deposition. He denied that the ATS had taken his statement, refuting its contents.
Special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal cross-examined the witness on behalf of the NIA after he was declared hostile.
The cross-examination will continue at a later date. Last week, another person connected to the same witness had also been declared hostile for not supporting the prosecution.
Six people were killed and 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in the North Maharashtra town of Malegaon, about 200 km from Mumbai on September 29, 2008.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
