ATS lawyer to be present in court during Malegaon bomb blast case trial

With some witnesses in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case turning hostile, Maharashtra’s home minister Dilip Walse-Patil assured that lawyers of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) would be present in the court during the trial.

The case was initially investigated by the ATS and later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The Maharashtra government would also speak to the NIA on the issue.

Also Read | Malegaon blast: Witnesses naming BJP-RSS to gain political mileage, alleges Maharashtra Congress

The trial in the case, in which there are a dozen accused including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Chandrapal Singh Thakur alias Swami Purnachetananda Giri, now BJP MP, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, a former Military Intelligence official and Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi alias Dayanand Pandey alias Swami Amrutanand

Devtirth, a self-proclaimed Shankaracharya, is being conducted by a special NIA court.

“Recently some witnesses have turned hostile…we will have our lawyers present in the court during the hearings,” Walse-Patil said.

Besides, the government will also speak to the NIA through the additional chief secretary (home).

Also Read | Malegaon blast: Witness claims ATS forced him to take names of Yogi, RSS leaders

Earlier the week, Maharashtra Congress leader and former minister Naseem Khan met additional director general of police Vineet Agarwal, who heads the ATS, and discussed the issue of witnesses turning hostile and also headed over a memorandum to him seeking the presence of ATS lawyer in court during the trial.

“So far 223 witnesses deposed in which 16 turned hostile and claiming that, ATS tortured them to give evidence against accused. The witnesses tarnished the image of the Maharashtra government and the ATS. Hence, presence of ATS in court is inevitable to save the image of the government and ATS,” Khan said.

“It seems witnesses are under influence by accused and deliberately taking names of BJP-RSS people to get mileage in Uttar Pradesh elections and defame Maharashtra government and ATS as prosecution witness 220 went beyond what was recorded in his 161 CrPC statements by mentioning the name of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. It is that the Special Public Prosecutor did not take objection to it and after deposition appeared on national news channels and took the name of Yogi Adityanath and others,” Khan pointed out.

Last month, a witness told the court that the ATS tortured and threatened him to take the names of Yogi Adityanath and four other RSS leaders.

Check out DH's latest videos: