Two accused in 2006 Malegaon blasts seek discharge

Two accused in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts in Maharashtra Wednesday moved a plea seeking discharge from the case over discrepancies in chargesheets filed by various probe agencies, a lawyer said.

Accused Mohamed Ali Shaikh and Asif Bashir Shaikh are also facing similar charges in the July 7, 2005 Mumbai serial train blasts case and are currently in custody.

In their application before a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) special court here, they pointed to various alleged contradictions and discrepancies in the earlier chargesheets filed by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad, the Central Bureau of Investigation and later the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which took over the probe in the case.

The court posted the matter for hearing June 29.

The two accused contended that they had been implicated in the case and their alleged confessional statement which was used as a vital piece of evidence against them was discarded by the NIA.

The NIA had concluded that the confessional statement was not voluntary and was obtained from the accused under duress, said their lawyer Shahid Nadeem Ansari, who is providing free legal aid to the duo through the Jamiat-Ulama-e Maharashtra.

"After this, we shall be filing similar discharge appeals for all the seven other co-accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case, who are currently out on bail," Ansari told IANS.

The court had earlier granted bail to the seven accused facing charges in the Malegaon blasts after the NIA probed the case and submitted its primary report in November 2011.

The Sep 8, 2006 blasts left 35 people dead.