Prakash Ambedkar asks who executed Malegaon bomb blasts if no one guilty

Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar, president of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), has expressed serious concerns following the acquittal of all accused Hindutva men and women in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blast case, in which six Muslim worshippers were killed, questioning who planned and executed the blasts if no one was found guilty.

“If no one is guilty, who planned and executed the Malegaon bomb blasts? Who killed six people?” he asked in a post on X, Maktoob Media reported.

Criticising the changing stance of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), he asked, “Why did the NIA change its stand in the investigation? Unless this question is answered, the truth will never be out.”

Ambedkar also flagged concerns over the deletion of key evidence and procedural inconsistencies, stating “Where are the papers of the investigation, initially led by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) under the late IPS officer Hemant Karkare?”

"Can the NIA explain why they launched a new inquiry when an existing line of investigation was already in place?" he said, casting doubt on the NIA's justification for initiating a new investigation even if an existing theory was already being investigated. Ambedkar also drew attention to the trend of important witnesses becoming hostile during the trial.

“Why did most witnesses, including some serving army officers, who had earlier testified about multiple meetings among the accused, eventually turn hostile? If those witnesses were initially lying, why hasn’t the prosecution sought perjury charges against any of them?”

Demanding accountability from investigative officers, he states, “If the ATS had planted evidence, why hasn’t the NIA court held those officers responsible for a flawed investigation and ordered a departmental inquiry?”

“These questions need to be answered,” he asserted, warning, “Otherwise, like the earlier Manu’s laws, no Brahmin shall be held guilty? Or is it that RSS and its affiliated members will never be held guilty?”

All seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb case, including former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, were cleared by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday. They are all connected to Hindutva organisations. The relatives of the victims plan to petition the High Court to overturn the accused's acquittal.