It’s been nearly two decades since an explosion shattered the town of Malegaon in Maharashtra. Now, finally, a special court on Thursday delivered the verdict.
According to reports, the day was marked by a decisive courtroom verdict, written in letters of finality, as the court acquitted all seven accused in the Malegaon blast case — a list that included Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur.
The blast occurred on September 29, 2008, during the holy month of Ramzan, claiming the lives of six and injuring over 100.
The device had been strapped to an LML Freedom motorcycle in a town with a sizable Muslim population.
The case, which drew national attention and ignited fierce debate by linking right-wing Hindu groups to terrorism, has now concluded with the acquittal of all accused on account of lack of evidence.
Special Judge AK Lahoti ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt. “There has been a grave incident against society. But the court cannot convict just on moral grounds,” he remarked. In a pointed observation, the court declared, “Terrorism has no religion, but conviction cannot be based on moral grounds.”
Reports mentioned that Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi alias Shankaracharya, and Sameer Kulkarni, were among the others acquitted.
Initially investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over in 2011, the case centered around allegations that the blast was a retaliation by the group Abhinav Bharat for atrocities allegedly committed by Muslims on Hindus. The ATS claimed that Pragya Thakur, arrested in 2008, owned the motorcycle used in the blast, and that Lt Col Purohit, then serving in military intelligence, had participated in meetings with Abhinav Bharat and arranged the explosives.
The court rejected these claims. It noted that there was no reliable evidence on record to show that Purohit procured RDX or assembled the bomb. It further stated that the prosecution failed to establish that the motorcycle belonged to Pragya Thakur. “The serial number of the chassis was not completely recovered by the forensic experts and, therefore, the prosecution failed to prove that the bike belonged to her,” the court held.
The court also said that Thakur had taken sanyas and renounced all material possessions two years prior to the explosion. Moreover, Abhinav Bharat was exonerated completely. “There is no evidence that Abhinav Bharat was used for terror activity. Material witnesses have not supported the prosecution case. The prosecution has been unsuccessful in proving the meetings took place (for conspiracy),” the court noted.
The court went further to reject even the count of the injured presented by the prosecution, expressing doubt about the claim that 101 people were hurt in the blast. It, however, acknowledged the deaths of six individuals and ordered compensation: Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.
Following the verdict, an emotional Pragya Thakur, with welled-up eyes, addressed the media. “My life has been ruined in the past 17 years. God will punish those who tried to insult ‘Bhagwa’. Today, saffron has won, Hindutva has won, the allegation of saffron terrorism has been proved false,” she was quoted as saying.
Lt Col Purohit, while refraining from naming anyone, also commented after the verdict: “I am a soldier who loves this country unconditionally. I am a victim of mentally ill people… Some people misused our power. We had to bear it.”
Thus, a case that introduced the contentious term “Hindu terror” into India’s political discourse has ended with full acquittals — and a scathing judicial rebuke of the prosecution’s failure to substantiate its charges.
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