Mumbai: The families of the victims of the Malegaon bomb blast has decided to move the Bombay High Court against the order of the NIA Special Court, which has acquitted all the seven accused.
In a landmark verdict delivered 17 years after a series of deadly bomb blasts shook Malegaon, a Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court on Thursday acquitted all seven individuals who stood trial in the politically sensitive terrorism case.
Special Judge AK Lahoti pronounced the acquittals in connection with the September 8, 2006 attacks, which took place on the night of Shab-e-Baraat, a significant date in the Islamic calendar.
“We will not stop here…we will move the Bombay High Court, we will move the Supreme Court,” said Advocate Shahid Nadeem Ansari , who had been representing the families of the victims.
Ansari said that in the case of the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court, last week, within 24 hours of the acquittal of 12 persons by the Bombay High Court, who were earlier convicted by a special MCOCA Court.
“The government must show the same speed in moving the higher court in the Malegaon case as well,” he said.
“The bomb blast has been proved by the court. We will challenge this acquittal in the High Court. We will file the appeal independently….In the blast at Malegaon, 6 people were killed and 101 were injured. The court acquitted all the accused by giving them the benefit of doubt.
But this is not a clear acquittal, an appeal will be filed in this matter. Accused No.10 (Sudhakar Chaturvedi) had said that no bomb blast took place, but that is a false statement,” he added.
The initial investigation into the 2006 Malegaon blasts was conducted by the Nashik Rural Police, but was later handed over to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The ATS probe was led by then Special Inspector General Hemant Karkare, a former officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
Seven individuals were accused in the case, all of whom have since been acquitted. Among them was Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, also known as Swami Purnachetanand Giri, who was charged with being part of the conspiracy.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit was alleged to be a key conspirator and ideological motivator of the group, accused of procuring RDX. Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi, also known as Dayanand Pandey or Swami Amrutanand Devtirth, a self-proclaimed Shankaracharya from Jammu & Kashmir, was named as another central figure in the conspiracy.
Major Ramesh Upadhyaya (Retd), a resident of Pune, was accused of imparting bomb-making training. Sudhakar Onkarnath Chaturvedi, also known as Chanakya Sudhakar and a resident of Thane, was alleged to be involved in the planning phase, with weapons reportedly recovered from his possession. Ajay Rahirkar, alias Raja, the Pune-based treasurer of the right-wing group Abhinav Bharat, and Sameer Kulkarni, alias Chanakya Sameer, hailing from Pune, were both accused of helping procure materials used to manufacture the bombs.
