One of the accused in the Malegaon 2008 blast case, Samir Kulkarni, has been provided with an armed guard for protection by the Maharashtra government from Wednesday at his residence in Pune's Pimpri-Chinchwad area.
He had written a letter to the state Chief Minister in May 2019 seeking the same.
"I had applied for police protection months ago. Finally, they have provided me an armed guard who will escort me wherever I go. I don't know the exact reason that why I have been provided security but I think the recent Kamlesh Tiwari murder case in Lucknow may be the reason," Kulkarni told ANI.
He said that the state government is bearing the cost of security as he cannot afford the expenses.
Kulkarni is the third accused in the case to be provided protection.
Other accused BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit have also been provided security by the Madhya Pradesh government and military, respectively.
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Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
Retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Ajay Rahirkar and Sudhakar Chaturvedi are also accused in the matter.