Mumbai, Dec. 27 (PTI): Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and six others will face trial under an anti- terror law in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case as the special court handling NIA cases here on Wednesday dismissed their applications for discharge. The court has, however, dropped charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against all the accused. The accused who will now face trial in the case, apart from Sadhvi and Purohit are: Sudhakar Dwivedi, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Ajay Rahirkar. Jagdish Mhatre and Rakesh Dhawde will face trial only under the Arms Act, the court said. The court has asked all the accused persons to appear before it on January 15 for the formal framing of charges against them.

Source: The Telegraph December 27, 2017 13:52 UTC