Mumbai: After the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Mumbai has acquitted all accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, Lt Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, one of those acquitted, said it was a “concocted case”.
He went on to strongly criticise the original framing of the case, calling it the result of “illegitimate acts by people.”
“Though we are yet to go through the judgment, I am positive that the findings are very comprehensive and elaborate. The entire world knows it was a concocted case. It was an outcome of illegitimate acts by people… Instead of asking me, why don’t you look into the cause of the matter. Who did it? Everyone knows. Why don’t you go and ask those who did it and why they did it. Who did they do it for? Going to the root cause will serve the purpose of this nation…,” he said while speaking to ANI.
Meanwhile, former BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, who has also been acquitted in the blast case, said the verdict signified the victory of “Bhagawa, Sanatana aur Rashtra” while accusing the Congress of fabricating the case for political gains and defaming nationalists.
Thakur said she would continue to serve the country despite the hardships she faced. Speaking to ANI, Thakur said, “Bhagawa, Sanatana aur Rashtra ki vijay hui hai‘. I faced numerous difficulties, but I will continue to do everything possible for the country’s future. Congress falsely made the entire case. This case was baseless. Congress always uses respectful words for terrorists. Congress party cannot become a nation-loving party.”
On Friday, Sameer Kulkarni, one of the acquitted accused, thanked the NIA court and accused the then Congress-led Maharashtra government of appeasement politics ahead of the 2009 elections.
“We immediately expressed gratitude to the court… We fought this legal battle for the self-respect of the majority Hindu community. The then Congress government committed this heinous act of Muslim appeasement for the 2009 state elections and they were also unable to save the lives of Malegaon’s innocent victim taxpayers,” Sameer Kulkarni told ANI.
On July 31, Mumbai’s NIA special court acquitted all seven accused of being involved in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, with the court saying that the prosecution failed to establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The NIA court has also ordered the Maharashtra government to award Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 compensation to the injured. A total of 7 people were accused, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni.
“All bail bonds of the accused are cancelled and sureties are discharged,” the NIA special court said. The court had examined 323 prosecution witnesses and eight defence witnesses before pronouncing the verdict. The seven people have been acquitted of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and all other charges.
On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and 95 others injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon City’s Bhikku Chowk. Originally, 11 people were accused in the case; however, the court ultimately framed charges against 7, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya (With inputs from ANI)
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