Metro India News | mumbai 

Nearly 17 years after a blast in Malegaon town of north Maharashtra claimed six lives, a special court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all the seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, noting there was "no reliable and cogent evidence" against them. Terrorism has no religion, the court said, adding it cannot convict on mere perception.

Thakur and Purohit hailed the court's order. Thakur said the acquittal was not just a win for her, but for "bhagwa" (saffron), as their acquittal rekindled the 'saffron terror' narrative buzz. “Bhagwa ki vijay hui hai,” Thakur said. Welcoming the court verdict, the BJP said the Congress manufactured the theory of "Hindu terror" when in power to stop the rise of Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister, to appease its Muslim voters.

Reacting to the court verdict, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said "terrorism was never saffron and will never be". AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel demanded that the state government challenge the acquittal. There is no word yet from any government functionary on this issue. Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said the court verdict was a slap on the face of the Congress, and demanded an apology from the party for its "saffron terror" narrative.

Terrorism should not be associated with any religion and no faith advocates violence, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh said.

Thakur said her life was ruined for the past 17 years, and that God will punish those who tried to insult "bhagwa".

An explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon town, located about 200 km from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008 killing six persons and injuring 101 others.

The court noted that the prosecution failed to prove the motorcycle that allegedly triggered the blasts belonged to Thakur.

The court also observed that while the prosecution had proven a bomb blast did occur, it failed to establish that the explosive was planted on the motorbike.

Special Judge A K Lahoti, assigned to hear cases of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) here, flagged several loopholes in the prosecution's case and the investigation carried out, and said the accused persons deserved the benefit of doubt.

Besides Thakur and Purohit, the accused comprised Major Ramesh Upadhyay (Retd), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni.

After the court acquitted them, the seven accused looked relieved with smiles on their faces. They thanked the judge and their lawyers.

The court while reading out the judgment said there was no "reliable and cogent" evidence to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

"Mere suspicion cannot take the place of real proof," the court said, adding that in the absence of any evidence, the accused persons deserve the benefit of doubt.

"The overall evidence does not inspire confidence in the court to convict the accused. There is no reliable and cogent evidence to warrant conviction," the judge said while reading out the judgment.

The court also said provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were not applicable to the case.

The court said it was not established that the motorbike used in the blast was registered in the name of Thakur, as claimed by the prosecution.

It has also not been established that the blast was carried out by the bomb allegedly planted on the bike, the court said.

The court directed the government to pay a compensation of Rs two lakh each to families of the six dead persons and Rs 50,000 to each of the 101 persons injured in the blast.

“We were shocked after the verdict came. People who died did not get justice,” said Firoz Ahmed Azmi, who said he fought for justice in the Malegaon blast case.

Before the verdict was announced, the seven accused, all out on bail, arrived at the sessions court in south Mumbai which was barricaded amid heavy security.

All the accused were charged for committing a terrorist act under provisions of the UAPA and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.

The prosecution's claim was that the blast was orchestrated by right wing extremists with an intention to terrorise the local Muslim community.

The NIA, which conducted the probe into the case, had sought "commensurate punishment" for the accused.

The trial, which started in 2018, got over on April 19 this year.

The probe was initially carried out by the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which had pinned the blame on right wing extremists who were members of 'Abhinav Bharat' group. The probe was later handed over to the NIA, which initially given a clean chit to Thakur, but the court had said there was prima facie evidence for her to face trial in the case.

In its final argument, the NIA submitted that the blast in Malegaon - a town with a sizable Muslim population - was orchestrated by the conspirators to terrorise a section of Muslim community, disrupt essential services, create communal tensions and threaten the state's internal security.

The blast took place during the holy month of Ramzan, just before the Navratri festival, the NIA pointed out, claiming the intention of the accused was to strike terror in a section of the Muslim community. During the trial, the prosecution presented 323 witnesses, of whom 37 turned hostile.