Court permits CBI to reopen Malegaon case

A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Thursday granted permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to reinvestigate the 2006 Malegaon blast case.

The agency moved an application before the court in the light of Swami Aseemanand's confession of his involvement in the Malegaon case, among other terror activities.

“In light of the disclosures made by Aseemanand before a Delhi court, we filed an application stating that we desire to look into the case and sought permission under section 173 sub clause 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to further investigate it. Special MCOCA judge Y.D. Shinde passed the order granting us the permission. The investigation officer was present in court,” Ejaz Khan, Senior Public Prosecutor of CBI told The Hindu.

A special team is likely to conduct the probe. “Like in any investigation, it's a team which carries out the probe,” a CBI official said.

Four bombs exploded on September 8, 2006 in the powerloom township of Malegaon in Nashik district. The blasts claimed 37 lives and injured over a 100 people. The State Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), who was investigating the case initially, filed a 2,200 page charge sheet on December 22, 2006, naming nine accused. The CBI took over the probe just the day before, on December 21, 2006.