Malegaon blast case: All accused acquitted
Seventeen years after a powerful blast rocked Malegaon in Maharashtra, a court acquitted all seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit.
Seventeen years after a powerful blast rocked Malegaon in Maharashtra, a court acquitted all seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, on Thursday.
Special Judge AK Lahoti stated that mere suspicion cannot take the case forward and asserted that the prosecution failed to establish the allegations against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt.
"There has been a grave incident against society. But the court cannot convict just on moral grounds," the judge said.
Six people were killed and more than 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle (LML Freedom bike) went off in Malegaon, a town with a sizeable Muslim population, on September 29, 2008. The blast took place during the holy month of Ramzan.
The case was initially probed by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) before being transferred to the NIA in 2011. The NIA alleged that the blast was part of a conspiracy involving the group Abhinav Bharat.
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