India News | ''Shoddy Investigation'' Responsible for Acquittal of Accused in Malegaon Blast Case: Owaisi

Hyderabad, Jul 31 (PTI) AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi alleged on Thursday that those accused in the Malegaon blast case in Maharashtra got acquitted due to a "deliberately shoddy investigation".

In a post on X, he said six 'namazis' (Muslim worshippers) were killed in the blast and nearly 100 were injured and that they were targeted for their religion.

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"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 a stay in the (2006) Mumbai train blasts acquittals?" he said.

Will Maharashtra's "secular" political parties demand accountability in the Malegaon blast case, he asked.

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Owaisi claimed 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.

In 2017, NIA had tried to get Pragya Singh Thakur, former BJP MP and an accused in the Malegaon blast case, acquitted, he alleged. "The same person would go on to be a BJP MP in 2019," he said.

Owaisi further said that former police officer Hemant Karkare had uncovered the conspiracy in the Malegaon blast case but was unfortunately killed by Pakistani terrorists in the 26/11 attacks.

He claimed whether NIA and ATS (Anti Terrorism Squad) officers would be held accountable for their alleged 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," Owaisi said.

Nearly 17 years after a blast in Malegaon town of north Maharashtra claimed six lives, a special court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all seven accused, including Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, noting there was "no reliable and cogent evidence" against them.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)