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Malegaon bomb blast: Sadhvi Pragya Singh granted bail, Lt Col Purohit's plea rejected

Malegaon bomb blast: Sadhvi Pragya Singh granted bail, Lt Col Purohit's plea rejected

Mumbai, Apr 25 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the 2008 Malegaon blast case on a cash surety of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties of the same amount for the bail. Bail plea of another accused, Lt Colonel Shrikant Purohit in the same case was rejected by the High Court. Both of them were accused of plotting the blast, in which seven people were killed and more than 50 persons were injured. The two have been in jail for over eight years now, though Sadhvi Pragya was moved to a hospital in Indore city of Madhya Pardesh recently for medical treatment. Division bench of Justice Ranjit More and and Justice Phansalkar Joshi while granting bail to Thakur refuses to stay its order saying that "there is no material on record to prove prime facie case against her". The stay was sought by a blast victim's lawyer on the grounds that accused was deeply involved in the case and his release on bail will influence the victim and witnesses. "Sadhvi Pragya is suffering from cancer and has become infirm and cannot even walk without support. She cannot be treated for cancer at an Ayurvedic hospital in Bhopal," the Court said. The court has directed Sadhvi Pragya, to furnish a bail bond of Rs. five lakhs, and also to surrender her passport to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Lt Col Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya had moved the High Court after a trial court rejected their bail applications last year. Seven people were killed, 101 injured when 2 bombs fitted on a motorcycle exploded in Malegaon, near Mumbai in 2008. On September 29, 2008, two bombs fitted on a motorcycle exploded in Malegaon, around 270 km from Mumbai, killing seven people and injuring over 100. Sadhvi Pragya was arrested in October that year and Col Purohit in November and both were charged with plotting the blasts as part of a pro-Hindu group, Abhinav Bharat. UN AAA SDR SHK 1938

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