21 January,2009 09:00 AM IST | | Ketan Ranga
While speculation was ripe that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Dayanand Pandey, and Lt Col Shrikant Purohit were the main conspirators behind the Malegaon blasts, the ATS has pinned their hopes of booking the accused under the stringent MCOCA entirely on the shoulders of Rakesh Dhawade.
Dhawade has two prior charge sheets filed against him, a pre-condition for the application of MCOCA.
The prosecution had applied to file a charge sheet in the MCOCA court, but the defense argued that the case must not be filed under MCOCA. The court will decide on taking cognizance of the offense under MCOCA today.u00a0
Dhawade, who runs the Institute of Research and Development in Oriental Studies-Arms and Armour, in Pune is involved in procuring the arms and ammunition for the organised crime of the Malegaon blast.
He has two charge sheets filed against him in explosion cases in Parbhani and Jalna in 2006. The charge sheet also mentioned that Dhawade has been involved in unlawful activities since 2003, and the other accused joined his syndicate to carry out the Malegaon blast.
