Court allows Malegaon blast case accused to attend a ritual

A special MCOCA court today allowed the application of one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case to be escorted to his native place to attend a ritual related to his mother's death.
"Special NIA judge Y D Shinde allowed the application of Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi alias Shankaracharya to be escorted to Kanpur to perform the rituals related to his mother's death," said his lawyer Naveen Chomal.
The permission was given for four days starting June 18, Chomal added.
Twelve persons, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, were arrested for carrying out a blast in Malegaon on September 29, 2008, which had claimed six persons and injured 100 others.

The accused have been booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), besides the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The trial is yet to commence as some of the accused have challenged the invocation of MCOCA in the case before the Supreme Court, which is pending.