Families of blasts victims look back in anger
'Uparwala saza dega.' (God will punish them.)
These words from relatives of those who died in the 2008 Malegaon blast, which occurred in the month of Ramzan, encapsulate the sentiment of the six affected families in this power loom city in Nashik district, soon after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court's verdict on Thursday.
Old, ailing and abandoned by all political parties, these families, among the poorest residents of this city, have barely been able to keep track of the many twists and turns of the case.
After the acquittal of all the accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts last week, the question being asked in Malegaon was simple –– will this be repeated in the Malegaon blast case. And if so, will the government rush to appeal as it did in the train blasts case?
'The home minister's speech in Parliament gave an inkling of the verdict,' said Aleem Faizee, founder editor of the Malegaon-based news website Ummid.com, referring to Amit Shah's comment on Wednesday that no Hindu could ever be a terrorist.
'We have not got justice; we will appeal,' said Mufti Ismail, Malegaon MLA and general secretary of the Jamiat Ulema, which arranged for lawyers to represent the intervenors in the case. Advocate Irfana Hamdani added, 'We need to study the judgment to know how the evidence was placed before the court. The ATS charge sheet had both audio and video records of strategy meetings and phone conversations, recorded by one of the accused, and these pointed to Pragya Thakur's involvement.'
Infirm and hard of hearing, Syed Nisar, 74, whose son died in the blast, has been the voice of the victims in the NIA court. He intervened in 2017 when the NIA said it had no objection to Sadhvi Pragya's bail application. 'This was not out of enmity for any community, but for justice,'' he clarified. 'My son was just 19.' The former scrap dealer is ready to continue fighting.
Ainoor Bi lost her 23-year-old son Irfan, who helped her sell vegetables, in the blast. 'How could they not have been punished?'' she asked. 'Imagine what it means for parents to lose their young child.' After Irfan's death, she tried to resume work but could not do so as returning to the same spot in the market where her son's friends worked was unbearable.
Hussain Shaha, who lost his father Harun, a power loom worker, was at his usual spot selling vegetable fritters even on the day the verdict was pronounced. The verdict means nothing to his mother, he said. 'Her health started failing after my father died; she is so far gone, she does not even recognise me.'
'Hemant Karkare (then ATS chief) had uncovered everything. If only he'd been alive…' rued Liaquat, father of the youngest victim. Holding up a picture of his then 10-year-old daughter Farheen, he said it was given to him by her teacher who took it from Farheen's scholarship form. 'My daughter was clever. She loved studies,' said the former truck driver.
Karkare is revered in the community. Another set of victims in Malegaon, inextricably linked to the 2008 blast, also remembered him. Nine Muslims were arrested for the first set of blasts in the city in 2006 on Shab e Baraat, a night of prayer, in which 31 Muslims were killed. These men could get bail in 2011 and were finally discharged in 2016 only because Karkare's investigations into the 2008 blast led to a different set of accused for the 2006 blasts too. The appeal against their discharge is pending in the Bombay high court.
Thursday's verdict has left people in the community angry.
'Was NIA's duty just to prove the accused innocent, or also to find the real culprits?'' asked eminent surgeon Dr Saeed Farani, who treated victims of both blasts. 'Perhaps we should just learn to live with this.'
But what of Malegaon's Hindus? The Mausam river divides Hindus and Muslims geographically in the city. The power loom industry on which the city runs, necessitates interaction but otherwise, there's little intermingling. Gandhian Subhash Pardeshi said: 'When 31 of their fellow citizens died in the 2006 blasts, though Shiv Sena MLA Dada Bhuse sent Shiv Sainiks to donate blood, no Hindu in Malegaon condemned the attack or stepped up to share the grief of the families of the deceased.'
'That silence will continue,' he added.
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The Hindu
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‘Conspiracy not proven': special judge while dismissing all charges in Malegaon blast case
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Such discrepancies undermine the credibility of the prosecution's case and fall short of establishing the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt,' the order said. The court further said, that the accused Pragyasingh Chandrapalsingh Thakur, Major Ramesh Shivji Upadhyaya, Sameer Sharad Kulkarni, Ajay Raja Eknath Rahirkar, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Onkarnath Chaturvedi are hereby acquitted of the offences punishable Sections 120-B, 153-A, 302, 307, 326, 324, 427 IPC and sections 16 and 18 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and Sections 3, 4, 5, 6 of the Explosive Substances Act,1908 vide section 235(1) of the code of criminal procedure, 1973. 'Bail bond of accused persons stand cancelled. The sureties stand discharged. The prosecuting agencies are at liberty to file a separate charge-sheet against the absconding accused Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange on their arrest. All the Muddemal including gadgets shall be preserved in safe and sure custody. It should be ensured that all the Muddemal would be made available whenever called by the Appellate court or needed for trial against absconding accused or disposal as per the rules,' the judgement said. The accused persons are directed to execute the bail bonds with surety in the amount of ₹20,000 each to appear before the higher court in compliance of section 437-A of the code of criminal procedure, 1973. The copy of the judgement is also to be sent to collector, D.G. of ATS and NIA for perusal and necessary action, the judge directed. The victims and injured are entitled to get compensation under the victim's compensation scheme. 'And hence, the prosecuting agency to prepare the separate victims / injured list and shall be forwarded to DLSA Mumbai, for compensation. After receipt of the said list, the DLSA, Mumbai to take the necessary steps to get the compensation to the victims. The compensatory amount of Rs. Two Lakh to each deceased family be paid and the amount of Rs.50,000/- to each injured be paid,' the order said. On September 29, 2008, during the holy month of Ramzan, a powerful bomb explosion rocked a crowded area in Malegaon around 9:35 p.m. The blast occurred near Shakeel Goods Transport Company, between Anjuman Chowk and Bhiku Chowk. The explosive device had been planted on an LML Freedom motorcycle bearing a fake registration number — MH-15-P-4572. The explosion killed six people, left 101 injured, and caused significant damage to nearby properties. The prosecution examined a total of 323 witnesses over the course of the trial. The investigation spanned across three agencies over the years: the Local Crime Branch (LCB), Nashik Gramin, in coordination with Azad Nagar Police Station, Malegaon; the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Mumbai; and later, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), New Delhi, which took over the case in 2011. 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If these conditions are not met, the court noted, such statements lose evidentiary value and are liable to be discarded. 'Before I conclude, it is necessary to place on record the fact that, I am fully aware of the degree of agony, frustration, and trauma caused to society at large and, more particularly, to the families of the victims by the fact that a heinous crime of this nature has gone unpunished. However, the law does not permit courts to convict an accused solely on the basis of moral conviction or suspicion. No doubt, terrorism has no religion because no religion in the world preaches violence. The court of law is not supposed to proceed on popular or predominant public perceptions about the matter,' the judge said. It further added, 'It is a cardinal principle of criminal jurisprudence that the burden rests entirely upon the prosecution to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, based on admissible and credible evidence. The more serious offence, the higher standard of proof required for conviction. Admittedly, in the present case there is no reliable, cogent and acceptable evidence on record, as discussed supra, to warrant the conviction.' The court noted that most witnesses turned hostile, stating during their testimony that their earlier statements were not given voluntarily but were dictated under coercion by ATS officers. Several also alleged torture, ill-treatment, and illegal detention during the investigation. While no formal complaints were filed against the officers, the court held that this alone could not be used to discredit the witnesses. It observed that the absence of complaints does not negate the possibility of coercion, as decisions to report misconduct often depend on factors such as fear of retaliation, psychological trauma, and lack of confidence in the system. 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It is pertinent to note that the witnesses deposed after a considerable lapse of time from the date of the alleged incident, which has led to natural lapses in memory and narration, it added. 'However, when contradictions, omissions, embellishments, and other infirmities in the testimony raise grave doubts regarding the veracity of the prosecution's version, it would be unsafe for the Court to rely on such evidence. Though, the testimony of police witnesses suggest that they were consistent and meticulous in detailing the procedural aspect concerning the recording of statements, arrest and recovery of articles, but the overall evidence does not inspire sufficient confidence to warrant conviction.'
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