All seven defendants in a horrific blast that occurred in a town with a majority of Muslims in Maharashtra state about 17 years ago have been cleared by an Indian court. The September 2008 bombings in Malegaon left at least six people dead and around a hundred injured.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a former member of parliament for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit, a serviceman, are two of the seven acquitted. The judge stated that the prosecution was unable to demonstrate that Thakur owned the motorcycle that was purportedly responsible for the explosions, according to the legal portal Live Law.
Additionally, the court noted that although the prosecution had demonstrated that a bombing had taken place, it had not demonstrated that the explosive was installed on the motorcycle.
In reference to Purohit, who was charged with organizing meetings to plan the attack and raising money to buy explosives for a right-wing group, the court found "no evidence of storing or assembling the explosives at Shrikant Prasad Purohit's residence," as reported by news agency ANI.
The defendant was exonerated of all charges by the Mumbai special court, including those brought against them under the anti-terrorist Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
"No religion can support violence, so there is no religion in terrorism." According to ANI, which quoted the ruling, "the court cannot convict anyone merely on perception and moral evidence; there must be cogent evidence."
The families' attorneys stated that they would individually file an appeal and contest the acquittal in the High Court. Before being sent to India's top counterterrorism organization, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in 2011, the investigation was first handled by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
One of the first significant cases in which right-wing Hindu nationalist organizations were directly charged with militant behavior was this politically significant case.
The case took several different turns over the years. During the trial, over 300 witnesses were questioned; at least 34 of them eventually became hostile.
The NIA issued a chargesheet in 2016, stating that Thakur and three other people were not sufficiently implicated. It suggested that charges against them be dropped.
The court mandated that Thakur stand trial even though it cleared the three. The remaining seven defendants were formally charged in 2018 by an NIA special court with criminal conspiracy, murder, and inciting animosity between religious communities under the anti-terror law.
The judge ordered all defendants to appear in court, delaying the verdict, which was originally scheduled for May.
