Judicial remand of Malegaon accused extended till Nov 29

Nashik, Nov 17 (PTI) The judicial remand of eight of the
ten accused, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, in the
Malegaon blast case has been extended till November 29 as a
court here rejected the Gujarat police's plea for
interrogation of nine of them.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (A.T.S.), which produced the
eight arrested persons in the case before the jam-packed court
of Additional Judge H.K. Ganatra, sought extension of their
judicial remand stating that investigations are on.

Special counsel for A.T.S. Ajay Misar argued before the
court that since investigation into the blast was still on,
the judicial remand of the accused should be extended.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat Police approached the court for
interrogation of nine of the ten accused, which was denied.
Deputy Superintendent of Police K.K. Mysorewala represented
the Gujarat Police.

Sadhvi Pragya's lawyer filed an application before the
court alleging the A.T.S. had ill treated her besides
torturing his client.

Another accused in the case, Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay
told the court that he was not allowed to send letters,
seeking legal help, to his family members in Pune.

Upadhyay said he was not being allowed to communicate
with his family which was against the "principle of natural
justice".

He also accused the A.T.S. of not providing him certain
facilities, applicable under the jail rules.

Sadhvi Pragya, whose lawyer had filed the application on
her behalf in English, sought the court's permission to
translate the same in Hindi as she did not understand the
language.

She told the court, packed with reporters and policemen
besides curious onlookers, that she does not even know what
she is being charged for.

"Mujhe maloom nahi mera kasoor kya hai (I don't know what
my crime is)," she said.

Dozens of Shiv Sena activists had gathered outside the
court shouting in support of the sadhvi who was the first to
be arrested by the A.T.S.

The investigation into the case came under media and
public scrutiny after a serving Army Lt Colonel and certain
Hindu religious leaders were arrested in this connection.

With assembly elections in some big states just around
the corner, the case has also acquired political colour with
the Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.) and the Sangh Parivar
calling the arrests of the Hindu leaders as "inspired by
political motives".

The Congress on the other hand has maintained that the
law should take its own course.

Maharshtra Director General of Police A.N. Roy had
earlier told P.T.I. that "at least three persons are still
wanted in the September 29 Malegaon blast case in which ten
persons have been arrested so far," adding investigations are
still going on. PTI AG
PMR
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