Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP Pragya Singh Thakur and co-accused Sameer Kulkarni withdrew their pleas from the Bombay High Court seeking discharge from the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.
Thakur and Kulkarni withdrew their petitions, filed in 2018, as the trial is in its fag end and 289 witnesses have been examined already.
Another accused, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, withdrew one of his petitions alleging defective sanction to prosecute him under provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
According to a report of PTI, Advocate Prashant Maggu, appearing for Thakur, on Thursday told HC since 289 witnesses have already been examined by the trial court, it would not be right to press for discharge from the case at this juncture and, hence, they would withdraw the plea. The HC accepted the statement.
On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and more than 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in Maharashtra's Nashik district.