By filing a third charge sheet in the 2006 Malegaon blast case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has only drawn flak for acting like a puppet at the hands of the Centre. Raising questions on its credibility, NGO Human Rights Bharatiya Security Council (HRBSC) said the agency has not only humiliated the four new accused, but also Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is in judicial custody, though she is not a part of the NIA charge sheet.
The charge sheet has accused four Hindu extremists — lokesh Sharma, Dhan Singh, Manohar Singh and Rajendra Choudhary — and completely overturned findings of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and CBI.
HRBSC claimed that there is no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya and has not been named in the charge sheet, yet she is in custody and is being tortured by the police. Once a lively woman, she is now on deathbed after suffering at the hands of the NIA.
"She was duped into travelling to Mumbai from Indore and detained for over 10 days. She was brutally beaten up by male policemen. She is in Bhopal jail now, suffering from breast cancer. The feft side of her body is paralysed and she may not live beyond a year," said Bhagwan Singh, a relative of Sadhvi Pragya.