ATS relies on their testimony to nail the 11 accused
ATS relies on their testimony to nail the 11 accused
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The Anti-Terrorism Squad has filed a 4,528-page charge heet in the September 29 Malegaon blast case, but is relying heavily on the testimony of 30 witnesses who attended the meetings with the arrested 11 accused in the case. These 30 were part of the meetings where plans of establishing a Hindu Rashtra and planting bombs at Malegaon were discussed.
According to the chargesheet, Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, along with other members of Abhinav Bharat, conducted meetings on January 26, 2008, and also in April, and later in September 2008, to propagate setting up of a Hindu Rashtra by using violent methods.
In the meeting at Bhopal, Purohit spoke about exacting revenge against the Muslim community, and hence plant explosives at Malegaon a Muslim populated area.
Around 30 such witnesses including an army officer, villagers from Bhopal, business- men, and devotees were present during the meeting and heard the conversation. But none of them warned or informed the police about their devilish plans.
ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi said, "There were a number of people present in the meeting, but all did not take part in the blasts or its conspiracy. They broke contact with the Malegaon accused after the meeting."
He added, "We have made them witnesses in the case. The chargesheet has been filed and the accused have been arrested on the basis of evidence. There was no evidence against these people."
The witnesses in their statements have mentioned that they left the meeting as they saw people talking about applying violent methods for a new Hindu government. Some said that after the meeting they broke all contact with the accused or did not participate in any other meetings.
Sadhvi's role
Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur, Dayanand Pandey alias Sudharkar Dwivedi, and Sameer Kulkarni were all present at the meeting. During the meeting, Pragnya said that she would provide two people for planting the bomb at the Malegaon site.
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