AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday expressed disappointment over the acquittal of all seven accused in the Malegaon blast case.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday acquitted all seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, in the case dating back to 2008.
Six people were killed and over 100 were injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008, during the holy month of Ramadan.
Soon after the verdict, Owaisi took to platform X to express his disappointment.
"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," he wrote on X.
Owaisi, according to India Today, questioned the handling of multiple terror investigations, including the Malegaon blasts of 2006 and 2008, the Mumbai train blasts, and the Samjhauta Express blast.
He asked who is accountable for these incidents, pointing to the use of military-grade RDX in the 2008 Malegaon case and the unresolved source of the explosives.
"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?" Owaisi wrote on X.
The AIMIM MP 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," he said, "in 2017, NIA had tried to get Sadhvi Pragya acquitted. The same person would go on to be a BJP MP in 2019."
Hemant Karkare had uncovered the conspiracy in Malegaon and was unfortunately killed by Pakistani terrorists in the 26/11 attacks, Owaisi noted and added that the BJP MP went on record saying that she had cursed him and his death was a consequence of it.
"Will NIA/ATS officers 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," Owaisi pointed out.