Malegoan case: NIA court issues release order, Lt Col Purohit likely to walk out of jail today

In compliance with Supreme Court order, NIA court has issued release orders for Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit, who has been languishing in jail for almost nine years for his alleged role in 2008 Malegaon blast case. Purohit is likely to be released from Taloja jail later on Tuesday night.

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail observing there were contradictions in the charge sheets filed by different investigating agencies. The release order has been given today after completion of all formalities.

The top court also said it cannot deny the relief to him merely because “sentiments of community was against him”. Six people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008, at Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in Nasik district of north Maharashtra. The apex court said there were “material contradictions” in the charge sheets filed by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Mumbai and the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which are required to be tested at the time of trial, and it cannot pick or choose one version over the other.

A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and Abhay Mohan Sapre, while taking note of variations in the charge sheets filed by Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) Mumbai …read more