Indore-based witness seeks MP police cover, claims threat to life

Indore, Apr 19 (PTI) Jitendra Bhakroda, a key witness in the Malegaon blast case, in which Bhopal BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur is among the accused, has sought security cover from Madhya Pradesh police expressing threat to his life.

Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.

As per the prosecution, the motorcycle used in the Malegaon blast had been been repaired at Bhakroda's Indore-based garage.

Mumbai's special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court had issued summons to Bhakroda on April 12 and had asked him to appear before it at 11 am on Tuesday, which he failed to do.

"Dilip Patidar, another resident of Indore and a witness in the Malegaon blast case, is still missing after being taken away by the Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in November 2008. Since then, I also constantly feel a threat to my life," Bhakroda told reporters here.

Bhakroda, who is witness number 21 in the case, demanded that he should be provided security from Madhya Pradesh police, adding that he did not trust police from other states or Central agencies in this regard.

He claimed he has requested the NIA officer, who sent him court summons through WhatsApp, to give him Madhya Pradesh police cover.

He said he had also demanded security by sending a message on the mobile phone of a top Indore police official.

He also claimed some "outsiders" recently approached him and asked him to be ready to depose before the special NIA court in Mumbai on Tuesday.

As per Maharashtra police, which helmed the initial probe, the motorcycle used in the blast was registered in Pragya Thakur's name, leading to her arrest. The case was later handed over to the NIA.

The Bombay High Court had granted bail to Thakur in 2017.