Mumbai: Notwithstanding Centre`s decision
to hand over 2008 Malegaon blast probe to NIA, Maharashtra ATS
on Thursday filed a charge sheet alleging that Abhinav Bharat
activist Praveen Mutalik was the key conspirator in the
bombings that left six people dead.
Mutalik, who is in his early 30`s, was arrested by the
ATS on January 31, this year from Gokak town in Belgaum
district of Karnataka after evading police for over two years.
Praveen Venkatesh Takalki alias Praveen Mutalik has
been charged with various sections of IPC, Explosive
Substances Act, Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act
(MCOCA) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The 305-page charge sheet claims that he had worked as
a personal secretary to Lt. Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit, a
key accused in the case, for three months before the
blast. Purohit is in judicial custody now.
The charge sheet, which has been filed despite
National Investigation Agency planning to register a fresh
case in the case, has claimed Mutalik as an "important link"
in the criminal conspiracy to trigger blasts in Malegaon, a
town famous for its power-loom industry.
It alleged that Mutalik assembled bombs and their
fuses at the behest of Purohit.
Alleging that Mutalik had got training on how to
assemble bombs, the ATS has charged him with aiding and
abetting the crime. It has listed 40 witnesses in the charge
sheet against Mutalik.
Maharashtra ATS had earlier claimed that on September
22, 2008, Mutalik had taken keys of the rented room of
Sudhakar Chaturvedi (37), another arrested accused in the
case, where the explosive devices were assembled.
"Forensic evidence has established that the samples of
RDX collected from the room and the samples found at the site
of the blast matched," police had said.
Six people were killed and scores wounded in the
blast on September 29, 2008.
Two other accused in the case - Ramji Kalangsara and
Sandeep Dange -- are still on the run. The ATS has so far
managed to arrest 12 people in this case including Sadhvi
Pragya, whose motorcycle was allegedly used to trigger the
blast.
PTI
