Mumbai:
The Bombay High Court has granted bail to two of the accused, Shivnarayan Kalsangra and Shamlal Sahu, two accused in the Malegaon blast of 2008, on the grounds that investigators have failed to build a strong case against them. The two have served three years in custody.
Milind Desai defense lawyer for the accused says, ''Kalsangra and Sahu were granted bail by the high court for lack of evidence.''
Singh and Shamlal Sahu, have been granted bail on a surety on Rs. 1 lakh each, on the condition that they will appear before the police every Monday.
Accused of providing a timer device used in the blast, Shivnarayan Kalsangra, (38), was arrested on October 23, 2008. Shamlal Sahu (44), arrested on October 23, 2008. Police claim the bomb timer used was supplied from his electrical repairs shop.
Shivnarayan Kalsangra, is also the brother of Ramji Kalsangra, who the police have accused of planting the bomb. A resident of Indore, Ramji is currently absconding. The court had said Kalsangra should not be punished just because he is related to a key accused.
On September 29, 2008 around 9:25 pm, a blast had rocked marketplace in Malegaon. Malegaon is located in the Nasik district of Maharashtra. The explosives were mounted on an LML bike (GJ05BR1920). Six people died and 79 were injured.
The case was initially probed by Maharashtra's Anti-Terror Squad but recently it has been handed over to the National Investigation Agency
The initial probe brought hardline Hindutva group Abhinava Bharat under the scanner and led to 11 arrests. Among them were Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Swami Dayanand Pande, as well as a serving and a former armyman, Lt Col Prasad Srikant Purohit, and ex-Army Major Ramesh Upadhyaya.
The let off of the two accused, will come a blow to investigators probing the Malegaon case. The next test of the evidence gathered by the investigators will come on Thursday, when the bail application of Lt Col Prasad Purohit is expected to come up in court.