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All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi criticised the acquittal of 7 accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case by Mumbai's Special NIA court on Thursday, calling the verdict "disappointing," and asking whether the Maharashtra government will challenge the verdict just like they did for the 2006 Mumbai blasts.
Further hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre for "making a terror accused a Member of Parliament," he demanded accountability for the agencies' "faulty investigation." "The Malegaon blast case verdict is disappointing. Six namazis were killed in the blast and nearly 100 were injured. They were targeted for their religion. A deliberately shoddy investigation/prosecution is responsible for the acquittal," Owaisi posted on X. Owaisi's post detailed five points, where he blamed the "shoddy" investigation of the agencies, asked whether the state government will appeal the judgment, questioning the instructions given to former prosecutor Rohini Salian to "go soft" on the accused, among other things. "17 years after the blast, the Court has acquitted all of the accused for lack of evidence. Will the Modi and Fadnavis governments appeal the judgement the way they swiftly demanded stay in the Mumbai train blasts acquittals? Will Maharashtra's "secular" political parties demand accountability? Who killed the 6 people?" he said in the post. Talking about the former ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who led the 2008 Malegaon Blast investigation, but was shot dead by Pakistani terrorists during 26/11 attacks, Owaisi highlighted, "Karkare had uncovered the conspiracy in Malegaon & was unfortunately killed by Pakistani terrorists in the 26/11 attacks. The BJP MP went on record saying that she had cursed him and his death was a consequence of his curse." "Will NIA/ATS officers be held accountable for their faulty investigation? I think we know the answer. This is the "tough on terror" Modi government. The world will remember that it made a terror accused a Member of Parliament." Mumbai's Special NIA court on Thursday acquitted all seven accused of being involved in the 2008 blasts in Malegaon, with the court saying that the prosecution failed to establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The NIA court has also ordered the Maharashtra government to award Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 compensation to the injured. The lawyer representing the victims' families said that he will be challenging the acquittal of the 7 people in High Court. On September 29 2008, six people were killed and 95 others injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon City's Bhikku Chowk. Originally, 11 people were accused in the case; however, the court ultimately framed charges against 7. (ANI)
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