Mumbai: Lt Col Prasad Purohit Promoted to Colonel Rank After Acquittal in Malegaon Blast Case

Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, who was recently acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, has been promoted to the rank of Colonel.

On 31 July 2025, the Special Court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) acquitted Purohit along with all other accused, including BJP leader Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. The court observed that there was no evidence on record to prove that the accused had stored RDX in their homes or assembled bombs.

The judgment stated that the prosecution’s case was entirely based on suspicion and assumptions without any concrete proof. The court further held that the claim that Col. Purohit had brought RDX from Jammu and Kashmir and stored it at his residence was speculative and unsupported by evidence.

The acquittal, however, has been challenged in the Bombay High Court. Families of six victims of the Malegaon blast have filed a petition seeking to overturn the NIA Special Court’s decision.