Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a prominent face of alleged Hindu terror, has been crippled by repeated torture in custody and cancer, her sister told Mail Today hours after the NIA dropped charges on Friday against the religious activist in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case.

Thakur's family said the previous Congress-led government framed her for the attack in the Muslim-majority Maharashtra town that killed seven people and set off an everswirling debate in India on the potential threat from Hindu extremists.

She was tortured by security agencies to such an extent that her spine gave way and she cannot even walk to the bathroom, Upama Singh, her sister, alleged. Thakur also developed breast cancer during her incarceration.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) let off Thakur and five others, citing lack of evidence. The agency also said it had submitted in its charge sheet that the prosecution against them was not "maintainable".

Thakur has been in judicial custody since October 2008. She was arrested on charges of being a key conspirator and is one of the 14 accused named in a Maharashtra ATS charge sheet.

The case was handed over to the NIA in 2011 along with six other cases of alleged Hindu terror.

"She had been put through unspeakable torture after she was arrested on false charges and since then her health has been deteriorating. Due to the excruciating torture, she has developed complications in her spine, which is a cause of grave concern for us," said Singh.

Following the arrests, while some analysts said the case pointed to a growing militant network that felt Muslims and an avowedly secular government were threatening the nation's Hindu majority, others maintained quick conclusions should not be drawn amid reports of inconsistencies in the case.

Among those held were a serving lieutenant colonel in the army, a retired major and a saffron-robed seer.

The NIA has also dropped charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against all the accused, including Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit. The case made headlines last year when the then special prosecutor Rohini Salian alleged that she was asked to "go soft" against the alleged perpetrators after the Narendra Modi government came to power.

Investigators had earlier alleged that Thakur provided a motorcycle that was used in an explosion, but she rejected the claim, saying she sold off the bike two years before the attack.

"Doctors say Pragya needs extensive surgery apart from rehabilitation and physiotherapy due to the damage that has been inflicted to her, mentally as well physically," said her sister.

Singh, who was at Ujjain Kumbh when Mail Today spoke to her, said despite the lifethreatening condition afflicting Thakur, she was not getting essential medical attention.

"While Pragya kept enduring the torture from agencies, she also developed breast cancer," she said. "We had even filed an application requesting surgery for her, but there has been no word on it yet. Let's see what the view the court takes." Singh also alleged that the entire family, and not just Thakur, was mentally harassed and psychologically tortured.

"The Congress government had put all of us under roundthe-clock surveillance. One person from the security apparatus was always tailing each family member," she claimed.

"Pragya was threatened that her family would face dire consequences." The government kept a keen eye on all the movements of the family members - who they met, who they talked to and where they went - Singh said.

"That Pragya was tortured does not require proof. The biggest proof is that she has become a physical cripple," she added. "First, the agencies broke her daily schedule which is the one central part of the life of a sage. Such a physically fit girl as Pragya, who has taken so many degrees in health management must have been tortured, one can easily imagine, to a great extent that she is now a vegetable."

Singh accused the Congress government of having hatched the so-called saffron terror, or Hindu terror, plot.

"The Congress launched upon a project called saffron terror so that it could corner the votes of non-Hindus as they realised that they were now devoid of such issues as development and also lacked the commitment towards the nation," she said.

"This was, in fact, an international conspiracy and the Congress thought that it could propitiate Muslim and Christian nations by using the ploy. Due to the grace of God, they ultimately failed."

Also read:

Malegaon blast: NIA gives clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya, waters down case against Col Purohit

NIA's 2008 Malegaon blast chargesheet: Clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya, ATS probe by Karkare flawed

