A local court in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas on Wednesday acquitted Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and seven others accused of killing former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak Sunil Joshi.
Joshi, a close associate of Sadhvi Pragya, was shot dead on December 29, 2007, when he was walking back to his hideout at Chuna Khadan locality in Dewas. The former RSS pracharak was on the run for his alleged role in the murder of a tribal Congress leader.
He was also allegedly involved in both the Malegaon and Samjhauta blast cases.
Those present in the court and their relatives broke down in tears when the judgment was pronounced.
Pragya Thakur, who is undergoing treatment in a Bhopal hospital under judicial custody, was not present in the court when the judgment was pronounced. She is also one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
The other accused Lokesh Sharma and Rajendra Chaudhary are in jail in Haryana’s Panchkula in connection with the Samjhauta blast case. Another accused Harshad is also in jail in connection with another case.
The other four accused Jitendra Sharma, Ramcharan Patel, Vasudev Parmar and Anandraj Kataria are out on bail.
Initially, the Madhya Pradesh police investigated the case and submitted a closure report. The case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on orders of the Madhya Pradesh high court.
After the NIA did not find any evidence to book the accused under sections they were being investigated, the case was again handed over to the Dewas Police in September 2014.
Source: HindustanTimes