Family of Malegaon blasts accused seeks probe into murder allegation

Days after a suspended Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer claimed that two absconding accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts were killed eight years ago, family members of one of the accused sought an investigation into the allegation.

Ramchandra Gopalsingh Kalsangra a.k.a Ramji’s wife Laxmibai, son Devavrat, and brother Shivnarayan called for a probe at a press conference.  They alleged that Ramji was picked up ATS officers on October 10, 2008. Devavrat said he was only 13 then and did not remember the details. However, Shivnarayan said he was also an accused in the case, and the ATS officers tortured him and his brother in custody.

Mehmood Mujawar, a former senior inspector in the Mumbai ATS, had submitted an application before a Magistrate Court in Solapur on August 19. The affidavit claims Ramji and co-accused Sandeep Dange were not absconding but had been killed. Their bodies were then disposed of along with the bodies of the victims of November 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks.

Advocate Prashant Maggu, who appeared for Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur — main accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts that killed eight and injured 101 — before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, rubbished the ATS investigation and claimed it was a fabricated case in which innocent people were implicated.

According to a charg esheet filed by the Maharashtra ATS, Ramji and Dange were Ms. Thakur’s confidantes and she gave them her motorcycle to plant the bombs. The ATS has alleged that Ramji and Dange planted the bombs and executed the attack. The supplementary chargesheet filed by the NIA mentions the confessional statement of accused Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi. According to the statement, Ms. Thakur introduced Ramji and Dange to Dwivedi, and said they were her eliable men.

However, NIA officers said, “As provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act are not being invoked in this chargesheet by NIA, this confessional statement does not have any evidentiary value.’

The NIA also discarded the confessional statement of Rakesh Dhawade. The statement said that accused Lt Col Prasad Shrikanth Purohit informed Dhawade about Ramji and Dange’s demand for RDX. Dhawade then arranged for the explosives and handed them over to Ramji and Dange, who were later charged with relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, The Arms Act, the Explosives Substance Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

In the 2006 Malegaon blasts, the NIA submitted an affidavit in the Bombay High Court that said Ramji, Dange and others had entered into a criminal conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in Malegaon that left 35 people dead and over 100 injured.