AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi termed the Malegaon blast verdict as “disappointing” and alleged that a shoddy investigation and prosecution led to the acquittal of all accused.
“The Malegaon blast case verdict is disappointing. Six namazis were killed in the blast and nearly 100 were injured. They were targeted for their religion. A deliberately shoddy investigation/prosecution is responsible for the acquittal,” he said.
Owaisi questioned whether the Modi and Fadnavis governments would challenge the judgment, and further asked if Maharashtra’s “secular” political parties would demand accountability for the killing of the six victims.
“17 years after the blast, the Court has acquitted all of the accused for lack of evidence. Will the Modi & Fadnavis governments appeal the judgement the way they swiftly demanded stay in the Mumbai train blasts acquittals? Will Maharashtra’s “secular” political parties demand accountability? Who killed the 6 people?” he said.
Owaisi questioned whether NIA and ATS officers would be held accountable for what he called a faulty investigation, adding that “the world will remember that the ‘tough on terror’ Modi government made a terror accused a Member of Parliament.
“Remember, in 2016 the then prosecutor in the case Rohini Salian went on record to say that NIA had asked her to “go soft” on the accused. Remember, in 2017, NIA had tried to get Sadhvi Pragya acquitted. The same person would go on to be a BJP MP in 2019. Karkare had uncovered the conspiracy in Malegaon & was unfortunately killed by Pakistani terrorists in the 26/11 attacks. The BJP MP went on record saying that she had cursed him and his death was a consequence of his curse. Will NIA/ATS officers be held accountable for their faulty investigation? I think we know the answer. This is the “tough on terror” Modi government. The world will remember that it made a terror accused a Member of Parliament,” he said.
Owaisi’s remarks came after a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including former BJP MP Pragya Thakur and former army officer Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit.
Seven people, including Pragya Thakur, former Army officer Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, former Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sameer Kulkarni, were put on trial over the deadly 2008 blast.
2008 Malegaon Blast
Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in Maharashtra with a large Muslim population, was rocked by a bomb blast on September 29, 2008. The explosives, carried on a motorcycle, went off near a mosque during the holy month of Ramzan, killing six people and injuring over 100. The incident took place on the eve of the Hindu festival Navratri and was seen by authorities as an attempt to incite communal tension in the area.
