After 17 years of trial, the acquittal of all seven accused persons, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, represents not only a legal vindication but also a consummate example of political chicanery that sought to sew a false narrative of so-called Hindu terror for electoral gains.
The very framework of the acquittal in the judgement delivered by Special Judge AK Lahoti rested on this foundation, i.e. “mere suspicion cannot take the case forward” and the prosecution “failed to establish the allegations against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.”
Since the very first day, right from the beginning of the investigation, right from the prosecution phase, and right through the trial, this paramount bedrock of criminal jurisprudence was being trammeled-in-a-nutshell, i.e. the guilt must be proved beyond all reasonable doubt.
Timeline: 2008 Malegaon Bomb Blast Case
2008 : September 29: A low-intensity bomb strapped to a motorcycle explodes at Bhikku Chowk in Malegaon in Maharashtra. The blast kills 6 people and injures 95 others.
September 30: An FIR is registered at Azad Nagar Police Station, Malegaon.
October 21: The Maharashtra ATS, under Hemant Karkare, formally takes over the investigation.
October 23: ATS makes first arrests: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and three others. The ATS claims her motorcycle was used in the blast. “Hindu terror” narrative enters public discourse.
November: ATS arrests Lt Col Prasad Purohit, alleging he procured RDX and ideologically supported the conspiracy through the group Abhinav Bharat.
2009 : January 20: ATS files its first charge sheet against 11 accused under IPC, UAPA, and MCOCA. Three individuals – Ramji Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange, and Sunil Joshi, are listed as wanted accused.
July 31: Special Court rules that MCOCA is inapplicable. Case is transferred to Nashik Court.
2010 : July 19: Bombay High Court reinstates MCOCA provisions.
2011-2012 : April 13: Case is transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which re-registers the FIR and begins independent investigation.
February 1: ATS arrests Pravin Mutalik, bringing total arrests to 12.
February and December 2012: NIA arrests Lokesh Sharma and Dhan Singh Chaudhary, raising the total arrested to 14.
2015 : April: Supreme Court refers the matter back to the special court to re-examine the applicability of MCOCA.
2016 : May 13: NIA files supplementary charge sheet dropping MCOCA charges, and gives a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya, and alleges that ATS extracted confessions through coercion and torture.
2017 : April 25: Bombay High Court grants bail to Pragya Thakur.
August 21: Supreme Court grants bail to Lt Col Purohit after 9 years in custody.
December 27: Special NIA Court discharges Shivnarayan Kalsangra, Shyam Sahu, and Pravin Mutalik. UAPA charges related to terrorist organization membership dropped for all.
2018 : October 30: Charges formally framed under UAPA, IPC, and Explosives Act against 7 accused: Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Major (Retd.) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi (aka Swami Amrutanand), Sameer Kulkarni.
December 3: Trial begins with examination of the first prosecution witness.
2018–2023: Court examines 323 prosecution witnesses (of which 37 turn hostile) and 8 defence witnesses. Over 10,800 exhibits submitted; 400+ articles seized as evidence.
2024 : July 23: Defence concludes its witness examination.
August 12: Final statements of accused recorded under Section 313 CrPC.
2025 : April 19: Court reserves judgment after closing final arguments.
May: Judge A.K. Lahoti postpones the verdict, citing voluminous documents. Orders all accused to be present on July 31.
July 31: Final Verdict: All seven accused acquitted. Court states that prosecution proved that a blast occurred but failed to link it to the accused or establish a conspiracy.
The court was not only dismissive with its findings but also devastating for the prosecution. It could not be proved that Lt Col Purohit brought the RDX or assembled the bomb; More so, the prosecution failed to prove that Pragya Thakur owned the motorcycle used in the blast, as “the serial number of the chassis was not completely recovered by the forensic experts.” The court further remarked that Thakur became a sanyasi and had given up all material possessions two years before the blast.
Gravest Observation of the Case
One of the grimmest chapters in the entire case was the established fact of planting of evidence. The Court of Inquiry of the Army had come to the conclusion that the RDX and explosives were planted on November 3, 2008, by the personnel of the ATS in Sudhakar Chaturvedi’s residence situated in Deolali, Nashik. The Army personnel caught Assistant Police Inspector Bhagde red-handed. Despite this, on November 25, 2008, a Panchnama was concocted stating the “discovery” of this evidence, which in itself is a case of evidence fabrication.
The extent of the conspiracy can be judged from the detailed statement of Lt Col Purohit before the Court. He was in fact kidnapped from Pachmarhi on October 29, 2008, under the pretences of taking him to Delhi but instead was taken to Mumbai, where he was kept a lone prisoner in a Khandala bungalow. For almost seven days, he was tortured brutally by senior ATS officers, including the late Hemant Karkare, to get from him false implicating statements against the leaders of the RSS and VHP, even Yogi Adityanath.
Dangerous Recurring Pattern
The Malegaon case cannot be considered in isolation from a larger pattern of persecution. This was one of the measures to put forth the ‘saffron terror’ narrative. It is said that the phrase “saffron terror” was coined by senior Congress leader in August 2008, months prior to the Malegaon blasts, suggesting that all the while before investigations actually began, a definite political game was alight.
Torture of a Braveheart
Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit opened the pandora’s box in a Mumbai court on May 8, 2024. Purohit in his 23 pages statement claimed that senior officers of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had subjected him to torture and coercion, compelling him to take the blame for the explosion.
- In his statement, Purohit said,” In 2001, I was entrusted with the responsibility to raise a specialised Counter Terror Infantry Battalion – 41 Rashtriya Rifles. I raised the battalion in Belgaum and was in charge of training of this new battalion. Later, this battalion got inducted into the active field in Kupwara, North Kashmir. In a short period of two years, we earned a coveted Chief of Army Staff Commendation Award. Upon my injury to my knee in the field while serving here in Kupwara, North Kashmir, I was transferred to Military Intelligence (The Int Corps). Since Oct 2002, I have been serving in Military Intelligence.
- In 2004, I infiltrated the Lashkar-e-Taiba module, and after six months of dedicated efforts, I neutralised all seven foreign terrorists of this group in one single operation. It is worth mentioning here that this operation, even today, is a case study in the intelligence training establishments of the Indian Army.
- My tasks in Kashmir were counter terrorism operations, counterintelligence, intelligence acquisition, fraternisation and psychological operations. After a prolonged and strenuous but very successful 5 yr tenure in J&K, I joined Southern Command Liaison Unit at Deolali, having its’ Head Quarters at Pune.
- The Charter of Duties were as follows – (a) Neutralisation of hostile int efforts – whether direct or through proxys. (b) Counter Intelligence. (c) Surveillance. (d) Counter subversion and Counter Sabotage. (e) Maintaining Liaison.
- Upon my joining, owing to my track record in the Army and Military Intelligence in particular, I was tasked to map SIMI (Student’s Islamic Movement of India – rechristened as Indian Mujahideen) and the presence of ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence – the Pakistani Intelligence Agency), subversive anti national activities, and likely sabotage plans in Southern Command Area of Responsibility. I was expected to complete the task in a short period of 2 years. This also included left-wing activism to include naxal activities and the unification of all these anti national elements planning nefarious activities. I developed my own strong intelligence network taking help of elements, whether individuals or organizations, from society having nationalist attitude and intents for this task and subsequent int gathering.
- During the same period, I initiated reports regarding fugitive and proclaimed underworld criminal, antinational and known ISI agent Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and his meeting with proclaimed fugitive, Central Committee senior leader of banned CPIML, Dr Ganapati. The meeting was to streamline the arms, ammunition, war like stores and drug supply from ISI, Pakistan to Left Wing Extremists and Naxalites in Dandakaranya Special Committee Zone operating in entire Penninsular India especially after these supplies stopped getting into India from Nepal. Second such report in 2006 – 2007 was regarding now proclaimed fugitive Dr Zhakir Naik, the founder of Islamic Research Foundation and his subversive activities all along the Indian Western Coast, illegal fund raising and funding of terror organisations on behalf of ISI of Pakistan. Another report was regarding the fake currency racket operating in South India. I had also initiated a detailed report after critically analysing spread of Naxalism and Left-Wing Extremism spreading from Eastern Maharashtra to Western Maharashtra all along Maharashtra – Madhya Pradesh Border.
The same pattern recurs with several cases. In the Samjhauta Express blast, whereas Arif Qasmani of Lashkar-e-Taiba was named by the UN Security Council as a Specially Designated National (SDN) and was the perpetrator and was confirmed the same by the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department, where the Indian investigators willfully refused to consider the internationally presented evidence against right-wing Hindu groups. The UN resolution clearly stated that Qasmani “worked with LeT to facilitate terrorist attacks including the bombing of February 2007 in the Samjhauta Express.” Again, in the Mecca Masjid bombing, numerous international agencies, South Asia Terrorism Portal, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, National Counterterrorism Center of the United States, and United Nations apportion responsibility to Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). However, Indian agencies went ahead in targeting Hindu organisations based solely on the confession of Swami Aseemanand, which was later retracted after it was proven as coerced.
Coining “saffron Terrorism”
On January 20, 2013, Indian media across the country reported that the then Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had accused BJP and RSS of conducting terror training camps and promoting “Hindu terrorism”! According to Outlook, Shinde at AICC meeting in New Delhi said, “One on hand we are trying to bring peace in this country. We are also taking steps against injustice to minorities as also against infiltration. But, in the midst of all this, we have got an investigation report that be it the RSS or BJP, their training camps are promoting Hindu terrorism. We are keeping a strict vigil on all this.” According to a report published on First Post on September 12, 2013, addressing a Congress “Mahasammelan” at Kukshi in Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh had used the word ‘Hindu terrorists’
Attempt to malign image of RSS
After 26/11, Congress leaders launched books blaming the RSS and ignored Pakistan’s role; Meanwhile, BJP under Modiji’s leadership responded to terror with surgical strikes, airstrikes, and a clear message: Terrorism won’t go unanswered.
The then Congress-led UPA Government responded with an appalling lack of resolve. Instead of going all-out to expose Pakistan’s role and demand international accountability, we witnessed a disturbing softness—a near-apologetic stance. There was no forceful diplomatic campaign, no strong internal reckoning. Just a quiet, deliberate effort to shift the narrative.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Aziz Burney to launch a book titled “26/11: RSS ki Saazish?”—a publication that blatantly attempted to pin the blame on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. A national tragedy was reduced to political propaganda.
Carefully Selected Target
Lieutenant Colonel Purohit was in the event considerably aggravated. He was a decorated intelligence officer who had successfully infiltrated Lashkar-e-Taiba modules and received the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Award; thus, he bore sensitive intelligence about SIMI-ISI activities. He was not allowed to reveal information on Dawood Ibrahim’s links with the Naxalites, Zakir Naik’s subversive activities, and the networks engaging in the fake currency racket.
The case serves as a chilling reminder of how the police and the criminal justice system can be weaponised against political rivals
The timing of the persecution puts a clear allegation that he was targeted because he “knew too much”, for this was immediately after the officer had started training ATS officers in SIMI and ISI operations. His counsel’s predictions that he could have been eliminated for possessing embarrassing intelligence data, came true with the kind of torture and illegal detention he suffered.
Why ‘Saffron Terror’?
The so-called saffron terror rhetoric served a dual purpose—deflecting attention from genuine Islamic terrorist activities and communalising for political advantage—the process constituting the investigation. When the erstwhile Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in 2013, “BJP and RSS conduct terror training camps,” after CNN-IBN proved that he had pressured officials to implicate senior Karykartas of RSS, Shinde was forced to retract that statement.The stark difference in treatment narrates that while those named in the 2006 Malegaon Blast (with “secular names”) walk free as they have claimed 37 lives, innocent Hindus are tortured and prosecuted for years on fabricated charges.
The so-called saffron terror rhetoric served a dual purpose—deflecting attention from genuine Islamic terrorist activities and communalising for political advantage
Justice Finally Served
In a sense, Judge Lahoti very rightly observed that “terrorism has no religion, but conviction cannot be based on moral grounds.” This unconditional maxim very well depicts the legal and moral triumph that this verdict came to represent. In an emotional statement, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur spoke about 17 years of persecution, saying, “Saffron has won, Hindutva has won, the allegation of saffron terrorism has been proved false.” Rather than a cry of victory, the statement is a sigh of relief that the truth finally eclipsed fake narratives.
The case serves as a chilling reminder of how the police and the criminal justice system can be weaponised against political rivals. The acquittal does not only clear the accused but also brings to light those darkest days when constitutional institutions were indeed taken over for partisan ends.
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