Though the special MCOCA court had granted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) permission to interrogate the 2006 Malegaon blast accused for three days last Tuesday, the outcome of the investigation is yet to be known. The court had also allowed interrogation of the 2008 Malegaon blasts accused, Lt Col Prasad Purohit.

Of the nine accused in the 2006 blast, all alleged members of Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), Abrar Ansari turned approver. The investigation was handed over to the CBI after Malegaon residents cried foul over the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) investigation. When the ATS arrested Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Purohit and several others in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast, locals demanded that their roles be investigated in the previous blast too.

According to the chargesheet filed in the 2008 blast case, in the transcripts containing conversations between Purohit and the other accused, Purohit claims that he is responsible for two more blasts in the past.

Menaka Rao/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication