Malegaon blast case verdict disappointing, says Owaisi

Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has termed as ‘disappointing’ the verdict of the NIA court, acquitting all accused in the Malegaon blast case, and wanted to know if the Centre and Maharashtra government will seek a stay as they did in the Mumbai train blasts case.

In a post on the social media platform ‘X’, the Hyderabad MP stated that a shoddy investigation led to the acquittal of the accused in the Malegaon blast case.

“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,” said Owaisi.

“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?” asked the MP.

He recalled that 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.”

Owaisi also mentioned Hemant Karkare, former chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad. “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,” wrote Owaisi.

The MP wanted to know if NIA/ATS officers should 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.”

Earlier, in the day, in a significant judgment, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including former BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit.

The court dropped all charges against the accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Arms Act, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), citing a lack of sufficient evidence.

IANS