Pragya Singh Thakur: The bike used for the blast belonged to Thakur. It was alleged that the wanted accused Ramji was in possession of the bike, he had planted explosives on the bike Thakur’s instructions and parked it at the site. Thakur is alleged to have accepted the responsibility and is said to have agreed to provide men to do the work.
Court: There is no evidence that it is the same bike belonging to Thakur which was used to plant explosives. Besides, there is no evidence that Thakur was indeed in possession of the bike at the relevant time.
Ramesh Upadhyay: In the Abhinav Bharat meetings on September 15, 2008 and September 16, 2008 at Bhosla Military School, Nashik, Upadhyay was elected as a working president of the organisation. The prosecution cited intercepted calls between Upadhyay, Purohit and Dwivedi, along with recordings from Dwivedi’s laptop confirmed by FSL as the accused’s voices, to support its conspiracy claims.
Court: There is no evidence on the points of the meetings. The procedure adopted for voice samples of the accused was not free from doubt. The interception of mobiles was not authorised during the particular period.
Sameer Kulkarni: Headed Abhinav Bharat in Madhya Pradesh and organised a meeting in Bhopal. Prosecution alleged he backed plans discussed in a Faridabad meeting to form a Hindu government in exile. On October 24, 2008, after Thakur’s arrest, Purohit allegedly told Kulkarni to leave Bhopal and erase all contacts.
Court: There is no evidence with regards to the alleged meetings as key witnesses turned hostile. Besides, the interception of mobile and recording of conversation thereof is held to be faulty.
Ajay alias Raja Eknath Rahirkar: He was the treasurer of Abhinav Bharat and collected funds to procure explosives. He had also participated in the meeting of Abhinav Bharat held at Bhosla Military School.
Court: Though Rahirkar was nominated as treasurer of Abhinav Bharat, there is no evidence that the funds collected were used for illegal terror activities.
Col. Prasad Purohit: He had floated Abhinav Bharat in 2006 when he was serving as an Army officer. Purohit is also accused of having collected funds for Abhinav Bharat. In the meeting held on January 25 & 26, 2008, he had proposed a separate constitution with a separate flag and also read over a constitution of Abhinav Bharat. He is accused of having procured RDX from his posting at Kashmir and had stored it at his house. He is accused of helping assemble the blast and instructing Rakesh Dhawde to train Praveen Takkalki in making the bomb fuse.
Court: No evidence links Purohit to sourcing, procuring, transporting, storing, assembling or fitting the RDX, nor to conducting a recce of the blast site.
Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi: He was a key member of Abhinav Bharat and attended all the meetings held in Bhopal, Faridabad and Nashik. Dwivedi had recorded meetings on his laptop. The audio-video recordings of the meeting has proved to be the key evidence for the prosecution.
Court: The court found that the seizure carried out at the premises of the accused to be faulty. Besides, the devices were not sealed after seizure for more than 24 hours.
Sudhakar Chaturvedi: He was an active member of Abhinav Bharat and said to have participated in all the meetings held at various places. It was alleged that traces of RDX were found at his house.
Court: There was no valid proof of conspiracy and the meeting held for the conspiracy. Besides, the court found that House search of Chaturvedi tilt towards planting in the light of evidence on the record. There was no conscious possession over the house, and articles, found at the relevant time.
