Congress tried to tarnish BJP's image: MP BJP on Malegaon verdict

Bhopal, July 31 (IANS) Reacting to the verdict of the Special NIA Court in the Malegaon blast case, the Madhya Pradesh BJP said on Thursday that Congress had tried to set a narrative with terms like 'Bhagava Atankwad' to tarnish the image of the BJP and its supporters.

“Congress tried to set a narrative against the BJP to tarnish our image. They created this term 'Bhagava Atankwad', which proved fake today by the Mumbai court. It's a big win for all of us,” former Madhya Pradesh minister and BJP MLA, Usha Thakur, told IANS.

Senior BJP Minister Inder Singh Parmar, responding to the judgement, said, "The people had already rejected Congress and its narrative of Bhagwa Atankwad, and today's judge proved it. She (Pragya Thakur) has already said that she has been tortured unnecessarily."

Congress leaders also responded, saying that they would respect the court's verdict.

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath and senior MLA Phool Singh Baraia also welcomed the court verdict.

"It's the court's verdict and we all have to welcome it," Kamal Nath told IANS when he arrived to attend the fourth day of the monsoon session of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Thursday.

On the acquittal of all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, a family member of the victim said they were disappointed with the judgment.

"The court's verdict in this case today is not justice. We want justice, and we will knock on the doors of the Supreme Court. As soon as we heard the verdict, it deeply hurt us. We will challenge this decision in the High Court," Dr. Ansari Ahmad, a family member of a victim in the blast, told IANS in Mumbai.

The 17-year-long trial witnessed several twists, with three charge sheets, including a supplementary one, being filed by two probe agencies: the ATS, Maharashtra, and the NIA. Both agencies added new contours to the prosecution theory at crucial stages and frequently included and dropped witnesses.

Key facts, developments and dates related to the case:

September 29, 2008: Six killed in Malegaon after a bomb strapped to a motorcycle explodes, sparking riots

Accused: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, former BJP MP from Bhopal; Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, then serving officer in Military Intelligence; Major (Retd) Ramesh Upadhyay; Ajay Rahirkar; Sudhakar Dwivedi; Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni

Genesis of ‘Hindu terror’: The ATS led by Hemant Karkare claimed that the blast was carried out by individuals linked to right-wing Hindu extremist groups – leading to the coining of the term ‘Hindu terror’

October 2008: ATS arrests Sadhvi Pragya, Purohit; both accused of links to Abhinav Bharat, which planned the ‘revenge attack’ on Muslims

November 2008: The Motorcycle used in the blast was collected as evidence. And Karkare was killed in the 26/11 attack

2016-2017: NIA files supplementary chargesheet, drops MCOCA charges but retains terror charges; accuses ATS of planting evidence

2017: Purohit gets bail in the Supreme Court; HC grants bail to Sadhvi Pragya

October 2018: Charges formally framed against seven accused

Dec 2018: Trial begins officially in the Special NIA Court

September 2023: Prosecution closes argument after examining 323 witnesses, 37 of whom turned hostile

April 19, 2025: Final arguments conclude, Special NIA Court in Mumbai reserves judgment

July 31, 2025: Special NIA Court acquits all seven accused who were on bail, orders Maharashtra government to pay Rs 2 lakh compensation to those killed, Rs 50,000 to the injured

--IANS

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