A licensed arms dealer, who had allegedly sold ammunition to Lt Col Prasad Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on Wednesday refused to support the prosecution on certain aspects of his statement given to Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

He also failed to recognize Purohit in the court.

Before this, 20 witnesses had turned hostile during the trial where BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur is the prime accused. The latest witness in his statement to the ATS had said that Purohit had visited his arms shop in 2006 for purchasing ammunition.

Purohit was carrying a licensed weapon when he visited the shop, the witness had allegedly told the ATS, adding he sold ammunition to Purohit once.

But during his deposition before the special National Investigation Agency court on Wednesday, the witness didn't confirm some parts of his statement to the ATS, a prosecution lawyer said.

The witness failed to recognise Purohit in the court and also the weapon shown to him. He was afraid that if he did not give a statement as told by the ATS he would be in trouble, the witness claimed.

Six people were killed and over 100 injured on September 29, 2008, after an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque at Malegaon town in Nashik district, located about 200 kilometres from Mumbai.

Besides Purohit and Lok Sabha MP Pragya Singh Thakur, other accused are Shudakar Diwedi, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni, all of whom are out on bail.



With PTI inputs

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Verdictum News Desk