ATS opposes discharge of nine accused in Malegaon blasts case

MUMBAI: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) has told the special MCOCA court that it has evidence against the nine accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case and their pleas for discharge from the case may be rejected.
The ATS’ 10-page reply explaining the role of each accused and the evidence against them, comes less than a year after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) gave a clean chit to the accused. “The forensic reports of the samples recovered from the bomb sites and those from the godown of the accused and other places and voice samples of the accused , establishes their participation and role in the crime,” the ATS said.
The ATS said that the confession statements of the accused and statements of the witnesses were also important in establishing the charges. It further stated that the supplementary chargesheet filed by the CBI, the next agency to investigate the matter, matched that of the ATS.
However, the NIA in its reply had said that that the evidence collected by it was not in consonance with the evidence collected earlier by the ATS and the CBI.
“No evidence was found in support of the conclusion drawn in the final report filed by the ATS and a supplementary final report submitted by the CBI recommending prosecution of...nine accused,” the reply had stated. While two accused are also facing trial in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, the rest are out on bail since 2011.
Four bombs went off late in the evening on September 8, 2006, when people had gathered at cemeteries for Shab-e-Baarat prayers, killing 31 and injuring 297.