2008 Malegaon blast accused Sameer Kulkarni granted bail by sessions court

A sessions court on Wednesday granted bail to Sameer Kulkarni, arrested for his alleged involvement in the September 2008 Malegaon blast case.While granting bail, the court considered that Kulkarni's role in the blast was not as big as Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit, who was released on bail on Supreme Court's orders in September, reported Free Press Journal.NIA had said in its charge sheet had that Kulkarni was a part of most meetings, including the one at Faridabad where he agreed to the proposal of forming a Central Hindu Government (Aryawart) against the Indian government.

The court granted Kulkarni bail on a bond of Rs 50,000 on the grounds of parity, as several other accused in the case including Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and retired Army Major Ramesh Upadhyay, have already been given bail.

Six persons were killed and nearly 100 injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in Malegaon town of Nashik district on 29 September, 2008. Kulkarni, a printing press employee from Bhopal, was arrested soon after the blast.According to the prosecution, he is alleged to have arranged chemicals used in the blast. It was also alleged that Kulkarni had been to Indore and Nashik to attend meetings in which the conspiracy was hatched.With inputs from PTI