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Hemant Karkare died because I cursed him: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur

Sadhvi Pragya says Hemant Karkare, who was probing the 2018 Malegoan case, had treated her “very badly” and died because of his “karma”; “I told him, you will be ruined”

SNS | New Delhi | April 19, 2019 2:13 pm

Hemant Karkare died because I cursed him: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. (File Photo: IANS)

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the 2008 Malegaon blast accused who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal as a BJP candidate, said on Friday former Mumbai Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare died because she had cursed him. Karkare died in action while fighting terrorists during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008. Karkare was also probing the Malegoan case, and Thakur said he had treated her “very badly” and died because of his “karma”.

“(the) probe panel official called Hemant Karkare and asked him to let me go if there is no evidence (against me). He (Karkare) said he would bring evidence from anywhere but not leave me,” Sadhvi Thakur can be heard saying in Hindi in a video posted by news agency ANI on Twitter.

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She also said when Karkare interrogated her with questions related to the case and she replied, God knows”, he asked should he go to God to get the evidence. Responding to him, Thakur said, she told him he should go (to God).

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“I told him, you will be ruined. And you won’t believe me, he died in less than one and a half months,” she said.

Hemant Karkare, along with two more senior police officers Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, were killed outside Cama Hospital in Mumbai after terrorists including Ajmal Kasab, who was later caught alive, and his partner Abu Ismail opened fire at their police van on November 26, 2008.

Less than two months prior to that, six persons were killed and over 100 sustained injuries in a bomb blast in Malegaon, Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. Hemant Karkare was probing the case, and he had tracked down the owner of the motorcycle that had been used in the crime. The motorcycle was found to be of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Thakur and others on October 24, 2008. The ATS said they were all part of a Hindu extremist group that carried out the blast.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which later took over the case, gave a clean chit to Thakur in May 2016.

While Thakur was named in three cases — the 2008 Malegaon blast, the 2006 Sunil Joshi murder case and the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast — charges were framed in one of these cases, and dropped in another, and she was  acquitted in one case.

Thakur is currently facing trial under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in a Mumbai court for allegedly conspiring and abetting a terror act and also has murder to criminal conspiracy charges against her. Currently out on bail, Thakur has been fielded against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in Bhopal, and she is likely to file her nominations on April 23.

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The Kerala High Court, on Thursday, granted bail to M K Nasar, one of the individuals convicted by the special NIA court last year in the case of chopping the hands of Professor T J Joseph in 2010. A division bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice P V Balakrishnan suspended Nasar’s sentence and granted conditional bail to him after considering his appeal against the NIA court’s conviction in the case Considering the prolonged detention and citing the potential for trial delays, the court suspended Nasar’s sentence and granted conditional bail, taking into account that some co-accused with similar allegations had already been released after serving shorter terms. The court noted that he had already spent nine years in jail and that delays in resolving appeals could justify suspending a convict’s prison term. It also observed that other accused in the case had received lesser sentences and had already been released after serving their terms. “The applicant has been undergoing incarceration, at the pre-conviction and post-conviction phases, for over 9 years. Furthermore, the fact that the accused facing the same allegations were earlier imposed a lesser term of imprisonment and have been released after having undergone the sentence is a factor that cannot be ignored. Additionally, the appeals filed by the NIA against the findings of the learned Sessions Judge are being considered in separate appeals, which have not yet been taken up. “There is also the likelihood of delay, as the prime accused has surrendered, and the learned Sessions Judge may have to take up the trial and dispose of it in accordance with the law and some of the original records may be required for that purpose. In view of these facts and circumstances, we are of the considered opinion that the sentence imposed on the applicant can be suspended pending the consideration of the appeal.” The court said The court, however, imposed strict conditions for Nasar’s bail. He is not supposed to provide a bond of Rs 1 lakh with two sureties, refrain from leaving the country without the court’s permission, avoid interfering with the trial or witnesses, and not commit similar offences while on bail The gruesome incident dates back to July 4, 2010, when Joseph, a professor at Newman College, Thodupuzha, was returning from Sunday mass with his family, members of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) attacked him, allegedly in retaliation for a question paper he set, which contained a passage that they claimed insulted Prophet Mohammed was derogatory. His right hand was chopped off in this attack. Nasar was accused of playing a critical role in the attack. Investigations revealed his involvement in recruiting gang members, assigning specific tasks, collecting funds, procuring communication devices, and maintaining communication links with key conspirators.

The Kerala High Court, on Thursday, granted bail to M K Nasar, one of the individuals convicted by the special NIA court last year in the case of chopping the hands of Professor T J Joseph in 2010.