Malegaon accused Upadhyay wants to contest Lok Sabha polls

Retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, an accused in the last year's Malegaon bomb blast, on Friday moved to a special court here seeking permission to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In an application filed before special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act Judge Y D Shinde, the former Army officer, who is presently lodged in Arther Road jail, has expressed his desire to contest the polls and serve the country.

"Upadhyay has the right to contest the elections since he has a clean and highly respectable past. He has been falsely implicated in this case by the ATS, which is serving a political agenda," his lawyer Naveen Chomal told PTI.

"Upadhyay, having served the Indian Army for 22 years, has been actively fighting against corruption and corrupt political parties and thus is capable of serving the nation," according to the application. Besides him, ten others, including Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, have been chargesheeted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in the case.

Six persons were killed in the September 29 blast in the powerloom town in North Maharashtra. The application, which will be heard on Saturday, seeks court permission to allow Upadhyay to fill in the requisite forms, submit documents and affidavits.