BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur’s LML Freedom motorcycle, which was used in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, is likely to be produced in court on Monday for the testimony of a forensic expert who had examined it.
It was to this motorcycle that a bomb was strapped, which had gone off on September 29, 2008, in Malegaon town of Nashik district, killing six persons and injuring over 100.
The two-wheeler had been traced to Pragya Thakur, who is the prime accused in the blast case. The registration number on the bike was found to be fake. The chassis number, which is unique for every vehicle, was not available as it got corroded due to a solution applied during examination; however, the expert had arrived at three probable engine numbers of the vehicle.
The authorities will bring to court on Monday yet another motorcycle -- a Honda Unicorn -- and five cycles that were at the blast site, all of whom are at the Kalachowky police station.
Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal said the NIA has written a letter on Saturday to the Kalachowki police station to produce them on Monday for the trial. The forensic expert is an important witness and has already testified regarding the procedures used to arrive at the probable engine numbers. On Monday, he is to identify whether the LML Freedom is the same that he had examined, as well as identify the other two-wheelers.
This is the second time that the vehicles will be produced before the special court. They were first produced in June 2019; at that time they were brought for testimony of an independent witness who had been present during the ‘panchnama’ procedure at the blast site. He had identified the vehicles as the ones that had been seized from the site.
At that time, then Special Judge VS Padalkar, who was conducting the trial, had examined the vehicles on the ground floor as the special court is on the fifth floor of the court building, to which the vehicles could not be taken.
