Pragya Thakur appears before special NIA court

Over a month after the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here in Mumbai directed all the accused on trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case to remain present once a week, ‘accused no 1’ (A1), Bhopal BJP MP, Pragya Singh Thakur appeared before the court today.

Thakur had initially cited election preparations and later health reasons for not appearing. Expressing his displeasure over the application made by Thakur on Monday seeking exemption from appearance for this week, the Special Judge V S Padalkar asked Thakur to remain present on Friday.

Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, is currently out on bail. She was granted bail in April 2017 by the Bombay High Court, almost a year after the NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet stating that they don't have a case against her. In October last year, the NIA court framed charges against seven accused including Thakur under certain section of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.


Earlier this year, she contested the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Madhya Pradesh against senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh and subsequently won it. During the course of her election campaign, the BJP leader had courted controversies for her remarks. Addressing an election rally, she had said, her curse had killed Hemant Karkare’, the Maharashtra cadre officer who was the state Anti Terrorism Squad chief and had arrested Thakur for her alleged involvement in the blast. Karkare fell prey to the terrorists' bullets during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. At another instance, she hailed Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse as a ‘patriot’. The BJP's top brass has expressed their displeasure and assured action against Thakur if the disciplinary committee found anything adverse.