NIA court discharge three in Malegaon blast case

Mumbai: The special NIA court while discharging three accused from the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case observed that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to connect the accused with the crime.

Praveen Takkalki was accused of having taken training to prepare the fuse of the bomb from another accused Rakesh Dhawde while Dhawde, in his confession, said that he had given such training to a person called Praveen. Judge Shripad Tekale noted that the ATS did not investigate further if the accused was the same Praveen or not.

About accused Shivnarayan Kalsangra, the judge noted that the two local policemen did not support the ATS case that an electric timer was seized from his residence. And since he was the brother of absconding accused Kalsangra, being in touch with him could not itself be an incriminating circumstance when there was no other material on record against him.

Shyam Sahu, owner of a mobile shop, was selling SIM cards and recharging them. According to the judge, he was a friend of wanted accused Kalsangra and hence, spoke to him on the phone but he sold his SIM card to the accused after making them sign necessary papers and there was no other evidence against him too.