Who is Pragya Singh Thakur?

Pragya Singh Thakur

Faced with charges of murder and causing communal disharmony under UAPA, Pragya Singh is now seeking to enter Parliament on BJP ticket

Pragya Singh Thakur is again grabbing headlines, this time for a very different reason. She will be contesting as the BJP’s candidate from Bhopal constituency against Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh. Few years back, she was in news when she was arrested for her alleged role in various terror operations across India starting with the 2008 Malegaon blasts. Charged under the Unlawful Assembly Prevention Act, she is now out on bail. By choosing her as candidate, the BJP has created another first in Indian Elections — this is the first time a major political party has given ticket to a terror accused.

A former ABVP activist, Pragya Singh comes from an RSS household and was interested in Hindutva ideology from an early age. She was arrested for her alleged involvement in the 2008 Malegaon blasts by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, then lead by Hemant Karkare who was killed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The ATS chargesheet mentioned that she was part of the meetings which took place since 2006 planning and executing terror attacks in Muslim dominated areas of western India. Though she was allegedly part of the planning meetings of various terror attacks, she was chargesheeted only in the Malegaon blasts in which her motorcycle was used. The blasts, which caused 6 deaths and injuries to over 100 people, were executed by a right-wing outfit called Abhinav Bharat, according to the chargesheet. The BJP had accused the then Congress-led UPA government of manipulating the case to implicate Hindu organisations.

The NIA turn  

Abhinav Bharat was founded by retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay and Lt Col Srikant Purohit. Most Malegaon blast accused, including Pragya Singh and her associates Sunil Joshi, Sandeep Kalsangra, Aseemanand and Sandeep Dange all belonged to this organisation. Kalsangra, who allegedly used Pragya Singh’s scooter to execute the blasts, is still absconding. Sunil Joshi was murdered in 2007 and there are allegations that Pragya Singh has a role in it. She was the first to be arrested in connection with Malegaon blasts and was charged with Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) at that time. After the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took up the probe, they dropped MCOCA charges against her. She is currently facing charges under UAPA, attempts to murder and cause communal disharmony.

The two evidences the ATS held against Pragya Singh were her motorcycle, which was used in the blast, and a statement from Yashpal Badana, who was claimed to be part of the meetings organising the blast. The NIA investigation, which lasted nearly five years, filed their chargesheet in 2016. The charge sheet exonerated Pragya Singh and decided to prosecute Col. Purohit. The chargesheet also indicated that the ATS investigation was weak and dropped the charges of MCOCA against all the accused in the blasts. Two witnesses, including Yashpal Badana, retracted their statements against Pragya Singh during the NIA investigation, claiming that they made the statements under pressure from the ATS.

No exoneration

The NIA court accepted the NIA chargesheet, but did not accept her exoneration. According to Pragya Singh, the entire allegation against her is false and it is a conspiracy by the Congress party. It should also be noted that while the NIA gave her a clean chit in 2016, special prosecutor Rohini Salian had revealed that she was asked to go ‘slow’ in the Malegaon case.

Apart from the Malegaon blasts, she was also chargesheeted in Sunil Joshi murder and Ajmer Dargah blasts in 2007. But she was later acquitted of the murder and charges against her were dropped in the Ajmer Dargah blasts case. She was granted bail citing health reasons. The court also observed that the NIA and the ATS reports put together, the charges against her are weak though the ATS is raising serious allegations.

And now, she is bidding for an entry into Parliament after joining the BJP.

 

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