What is the Malegaon Blast case? Who were 7 key accused who got clean chit from NIA special court?

A special court in Mumbai acquitted all accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit.

Mumbai: The NIA (National Investigation Agency) special court on Thursday has given its verdict in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Acquitted all accused in this case, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit.

This verdict came 17 years after the incident.

What is the Malegaon Blast case?

In 2008, Malegaon in Nasik, Maharashtra was rocked by bomb blasts. This powerful explosion took place at Malegaon's Bhikkhu Chowk in Nashik on September 29, 2008, during the holy month of Ramzan.

Six people were killed and more than 100 were injured in this explosion.

Navratri was to begin the very next day of the bomb blast. The Malegaon blast has been investigated by the police, ATS and NIA.

NIA was handed over the investigation in 2011

A total of 11 people were arrested two weeks after the Malegaon blast. Colonel Purohit was also included in this. Purohit used to run an organization named Abhinav Bharat. ATS filed a charge sheet in this case in January 2009. A total of 11 people were accused in this. After this, the case was transferred to NIA in March 2011. In March 2016, NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet. Charges under MCOCA were dropped in this.

After a hearing that lasted for more than a decade and a half, the court acquitted all the accused. Justice Lahoti said that 3-4 agencies were investigating this case. No evidence of placing a bomb in the bike was found. No evidence has been found against Colonel Purohit either.

Apart from this, no evidence has been found of bringing RDX from Kashmir. The judge of the NIA court said that the prosecution has failed to prove who parked the bike. At the time of the verdict, all the accused including former BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur were present in the court.

Important points of the court's decision:

-There is no evidence of who parked the bike

-There is no evidence of RDX at Colonel Purohit's house

-Terrorism has no color.

-There is no legally valid evidence.

What happened when?

 

There was a storm over the blast
The Malegaon blast had created a political storm in the politics of the entire country. Malegaon, located 291 km from Mumbai, became the investigation site for all the central investigating agencies and Maharashtra ATS. This was the first case when Hindus were accused in a blast case. The hearing of the Malegaon blast case was completed in April 2025. After this, the court was waiting for the verdict. The court's decision was delayed because there were more than one lakh pages of evidence and documents in the case. In such a situation, the court needed additional time to examine all the records before giving the verdict.

Congress government was in both the places
When this blast incident took place in Malegaon, Nashik, there was a Congress-led UPA government at the Center. At that time, the Congress-led government was in power in Maharashtra. Vilasrao Deshmukh was the Chief Minister of the state then, although there was a change of leadership in the state two months after the Malegaon blast. After this, Ashok Chavan became the CM of the state. Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested the accused within a few weeks of the bomb blast that took place about 17 years ago. One of these accused was released from jail on bail in 2011. The other six had to spend eight more years in jail before getting bail in 2017.

About the authorAchalendra KatiyarAchalendra Kumar Katiyar is working in Navbharat Times Online. In 2008, he started his career with DLA newspaper. In his 17-year journey, he has worked in I Next, Aaj Samaj and Dainik Hindustan. He keeps an eye on every development in the western states including Gujarat and Maharashtra. He has a good understanding of politics. He keeps an eye on the activities in the states of South and North East.