Pragya Singh Thakur acquitted in Malegaon blast case: How ATS probe projected her as 'owner of bike'

Pragya Thakur defeated Madhya Pradesh Congress candidate, Digvijaya Singh in the 2019 general election from Bhopal.

After former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur was acquitted in the Malegaon blast case Thursday, she said that it changed her life.

"… This ruined my whole life. I was living a sage’s life, but I was made an accused, and no one was willingly standing beside us. I am alive because I am a Sanyasi," Pragya Singh Thakur told the court.

Who is Pragya Singh Thakur?

Pragya Singh Thakur (55) was born in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind district. Thakur, who is a daughter of an Ayurveda doctor, holds a postgraduate degree in history. She is also a former member of Durga Vahini, the women's wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Her father, Chandrapal Singh Thakur, was an active RSS worker.

She hit the headlines in 2008 after her name surfaced as the alleged owner of the two-wheeler used in the Malegaon blast. She was arrested on October 23, 2008. According to Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, her interrogation helped unravel the plot hatched by right-wing extremists to terrorise the local Muslim community. However, she said she had sold the bikes two years earlier.

However, the ATS said records showed her name as the owner of the bike. The NIA took over the ATS in 2011. There was no relief for Pragya till the NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet against her in 2016. During her incarceration she was treated for breast cancer.

According to the chargesheet, co-accused Ramji Kalsangra (who is since presumed dead), was in possession of the bike though it was registered in Pragya's name. The agency dropped MCOCA charges against her but Pragya remained in jail and was prosecuted under the UAPA, as well as IPC and the Explosives Act.

In April 2017, Bombay HC granted her bail. Two years after getting  bail, she was given a ticket by BJP. Sshe defeated former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and Congress candidate.

However, she made the BJP upset by calling Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, a patriot.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that he would never pardon her by heart, as he said, "Main dil se unhe kabhi maaf nahi kar paunga". She was sacked from the committee on defence as well as the BJP parliamentary party meetings.