Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has strongly criticised the NIA court’s verdict acquitting all accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, stating that the victims were targeted for their religion. He questioned whether the Union government and the Maharashtra administration would challenge the judgment in higher courts, as they did in the Mumbai train blasts case.
In a post on social media platform X, Owaisi called the verdict “disappointing” and blamed a “deliberately shoddy investigation and prosecution” for the acquittal of all seven accused, including BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit. He said the six Muslims who were killed and nearly 100 injured in the blast were attacked because of their faith.
“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,” Owaisi said.
“Seventeen years after the blast, the court has acquitted all of the accused for lack of evidence. Will the Modi and Fadnavis governments appeal the judgment the way they swiftly demanded a stay in the Mumbai train blasts acquittals? Will Maharashtra’s ‘secular’ political parties demand accountability? Who killed the six people?” he asked.
The Hyderabad MP also referred to former public prosecutor Rohini Salian’s 2016 statement, in which she alleged that the National Investigation Agency (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,” he wrote.
Owaisi invoked the role of former Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, who he said had uncovered the Malegaon conspiracy. Karkare was killed during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks by Pakistani terrorists. “The BJP MP [Sadhvi Pragya] went on record saying that she had cursed him and his death was a consequence of that curse,” Owaisi recalled.
He further questioned whether NIA and ATS officers would be held accountable for the investigation failures. “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 remarked.
Earlier in the day, a special NIA court acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, dropping charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the Arms Act, citing a lack of sufficient evidence.
With IANS inputs