17th witness in Malegaon Blast Case turns hostile, claims 'Maha ATS tortured me to name RSS'

The latest witness who turned hostile in the Malegaon blast case has alleged that he was tortured by the ATS.

NewsBharati 03-Feb-2022 17:15:53 PM

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Malegaon, February 3: The 17th witness in the Malegaon bomb blast case has turned hostile and narrated his share of torture allegedly inflicted by the Maharashtra ATS, before a special Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) court. Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil had stated concerns over the increasing no. of witnesses turning hostile in hearings before the court.

Now, the latest witness who turned hostile in the Malegaon blast case has alleged that he was tortured by the ATS. Raising the number to 17, these hostile witnesses have alleged that they were allegedly coerced to take RSS' name before the court.

Correction: Another witness turns hostile* in the Malegaon blast case 2008 trial. This is the 17th hostile witness. He told the court that he was kidnapped by ATS and was kept in illegal custody for three-four days, and was forced to take names of RSS leaders in the case.
— ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2022

6 people were killed and over 100 others were injured after a bomb strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, Maharashtra, on 29 September 2008.

Also Read | Malegaon Blast Case: RSS leader Indresh Kumar demands apology from Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi

The six accused, including Pragya Thakur, are booked under Sections 16 (committing the terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA. Sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups) of the IPC. Relevant provisions of the Explosive Substances Act have also been invoked in the FIR.