MUMBAI: The lawyer representing the families of the victims in the 2008 Malegaon blast case has written to the NIA asking for a hostile witness to be made an accused in the case. The letter written by advocate Shahid Nadeem, said, “We call upon you to take necessary action within two weeks else we will be forced to take recourse under the law available to the victims,” the plea said.
The letter said that the witness had taken voluntary retirement from the Indian Army in 2008 and he was the commanding officer of accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit. “In fact, he has answered questions unrelated to the present case in minute detail during his cross-examination by accused number 9’s (Purohit) lawyer. He deliberately travelled beyond his statement to facilitate the accused,” the letter said.
It further said that it appeared that he was also involved in the larger conspiracy along with other accused in the case. “From his statement, it is amply clear that he was privy to the information about the blast and all the meetings held by Abhinav Bharat where the preparation for the blast took place,” the letter said. On September 29, 2008, a bomb explosion killed six and injured more than 100.
