NIA Court acquits all accused in Malegaon blast case

 NIA Court acquits all accused in Malegaon blast case 

"Terrorism has no religion, but conviction cannot be based on moral grounds," the special court said. 

No evidence: All Malegaon blast accused, including Pragya Thakur, acquitted

Malegaon blasts verdict: The blasts in Malegaon killed six people and injured over 100. Seventeen years later, all the seven accused have been acquitted.

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The court further said that Pragya Thakur had become a sanyasi and had left all material things two years before the blast.

The court also exonerated Abhinav Bharat, saying there is no evidence that the group was involved in any "terror activity".

Advocate Ranjit Nayar, accused's lawyer says,

 "The accused have been acquitted in this case. I was the advocate for accused number 11, Sudhakar Chaturvedi. 

The Court said that there is no proof of the owner of the mobile phones and vehicles found at the spot. ATS investigated this case. The Court said that phones were tapped without any sanction... NCP-Congress was in power back then. 

They had to do their political gains... Now everything is clear that there are no witnesses against the accused...".

Special Judge AK Lahoti said mere suspicion cannot take the case forward and noted that the prosecution failed to establish the allegations against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

There has been a grave incident against society. But the court cannot convict just on moral grounds," the judge said, bringing closure to a case that saw the arrest of individuals linked to Hindu right-wing groups. It gave rise to the controversial phrase "Hindu terror".

Apart from Pragya Thakur and Purohit, the others who have been acquitted are Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi alias Shankaracharya, and Sameer Kulkarni.

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 ATS had alleged that the blast was part of a conspiracy involving the group Abhinav Bharat to take revenge for previous atrocities committed by Muslims on Hindus.

The ATS had claimed that Pragya Thakur, who was arrested in 2008, was the owner of the motorcycle used in the blast.

It also claimed that Lt Col Purohit, then an Army officer posted in military intelligence, helped arrange explosives and was part of meetings with Abhinav Bharat.