Kolkata, September 5: Retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, has decided to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. Upadhyay will contest the General Elections from Jadavpur constituency in West Bengal on a Hindu Mahasabha ticket.

Out on bail in the Malegaon blasts case, Upadhyay is a co-accused along with Lt Col Srikant P Purohit and 12 others. Upadhyay is accused of participating in meetings organised by an outfit called Abhinav Bharat, which was floated by Purohit.

Upadhyay was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in September 2017 against a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. The NIA, in its chargesheet, had cited transcripts of phone conversations between Upadhyay and Purohit as prime evidence against the former.

Seven people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008 at Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in Nashik district of north Maharashtra.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 05, 2018 12:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).