A military officer, who is a witness in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, was declared hostile by the court on Thursday. So far, 25 witnesses have turned hostile.
The witness, whose statement was included by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in its chargesheet, told the court that while ATS officers had questioned him, his statement was not recorded. While he said he knew accused Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, he refuted the contents of his alleged statement.
Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal, during cross-examination of the witness, asked him if he was deposing falsely to save Purohit, which the witness denied.
The statement that the ATS said it had recorded had claimed that the witness and Purohit met in 2008. The witness had allegedly said that he had seen documents of Abhinav Bharat trust at Purohit’s home with names and signatures of many, including that of co-accused Ajay Rahirkar.
The ATS and the NIA have alleged that Purohit was part of the trust, which conspired about the terror attack.