Two Malegaon blasts accused seek discharge from case

Two accused of the 2006 Malegaon blasts case today filed an application before the special National Investigation Agency court here, seeking discharge on the ground that there is no evidence against them.
The application of Mohammad Ali Alam Sheikh and Asif Khan Bashir Khan, filed by their lawyer advocate Abdul Wahab Khan, says that "prosecution was initiated by Anti-Terrorism Squad with ill-will, malice and ulterior motive".
Nothing incriminating was recovered at their instance or from their possession, it says. "The arrest of the applicants ...Is only on the basis of the suspicion and without any basis", it says.
Both have not given any confession, and the confessions allegedly obtained by ATS have been discarded by NIA (which took over the probe later), it says.

The application also states that Sheikh, Khan and their co-accused can not be tried with the four Hindu right-wing group members who were arrested by the NIA.
The court is likely hear the application on Saturday. "The court has directed NIA to file reply," said advocate Wahab Khan.

The ATS had arrested Khan, Sheikh and seven others during its probe; but the subsequent NIA probe led to the revelation that Hindu right-wing extremists were responsible for the blasts on September 8, 2006 in Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in Nashik district of Maharashtra, which killed 37 people.
NIA did not oppose the bail pleas of the nine accused arrested by ATS, and went on to arrest Lokesh Sharma, Dhan Singh, Manohar Singh and Rajendra Choudhary.

However, Sheikh and Khan are still in custody in 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts case.