Sadhvi Pragya arrested in Sunil Joshi murder case

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, Feb 26: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case, has been placed under arrest by Madhya Pradesh Police in connection with the murder of Sunil Joshi, a suspect in the Samjhauta Express blast case who was killed at Dewas in December 2007.

"The MP police moved an application in the special MCOCA court here, and after taking the court’s permission they placed Sadhvi under arrest in the Sunil Joshi murder case," Rohini Salian, Special Public Prosecutor, said.

Pragya Singh, main accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case in Maharashtra, has been undergoing treatment in J J hospital here. The team of MP police went there yesterday and arrested her, sources said.

"It is just a formal arrest. She would be taken to MP after they make transportation arrangements," Pragya’s lawyer advocate Ganesh Sovani said.

Joshi, a suspect in the Samjhauta Express blast case, was shot dead in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh on December 29,2007.

Sixty-eight people were killed when bombs went off in two coaches of Samjhauta Express, running between Delhi and Lahore, around midnight on February 18, 2007 at Diwana near Panipat, 80 km north of Delhi.

Pragya, an alleged member of right-wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat, has already moved the Supreme Court challenging her prosecution under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the Malegaon blast case.

The Bombay High Court had earlier reversed special court’s order quashing application of MCOCA against her in the blast case, following which she filed appeal in the apex court.

Six people were killed and many were wounded in the bomb blast in the communally sensitive town of Malegaon, in Nashik district, on September 29, 2008.

Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has so far arrested 12 persons in Malegaon case.

PTI