A day after the acquittal of all seven accused by a special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, a new controversy has come to light. Milind Joshi, a prominent witness in the case, has made serious allegations that it was deliberately tried to politicize the investigation and to create evidence to arrest a senior RSS officer. Joshi alleged that he was tortured into custody and pressurized to implicate senior leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), including the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, who was only a Member of Parliament at that time.
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Joshi claimed that there was heavy pressure to take the name of Yogi Adityanath. In 2008, he was not as prominent person today, yet he and others were made clear to make false allegations in the name of ‘Hindu terrorism’. I was detained and harassed. False evidences were being coined. Joshi further stated that although the investigation was officially being done by the Maharashtra Anti -Terrorism Squad (ATS), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials also participated in the interrogation. He said, “It was strange that some CBI officials from Delhi were questioning us, and they were extremely aggressive. I am not sure whether they had jurisdiction at that time, but they were definitely involved and they were adopting a strategy to intimidate.
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He told that in 2008 Yogi Adityanath, this name was not as big as today. Today he has become a global name. However, in 2008 he was just an MP, and we were under great pressure to take his name. For this, we were very pressurized. Maharashtra ATS was actually investigating the matter, but surprisingly, some CBI officials had come from Delhi, and they were also inquiring. I do not know whether this matter used to come under the jurisdiction of CBI or not. I do not know anything, but some CBI officials from Delhi used to come and inquire, and they used to do very misbehaving. Maharashtra ATS officials were also pressurizing. But the CBI officials of Delhi used to treat and threaten us very badly.
These revelations were on Thursday after the court’s decision to acquit all the accused including former BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Srikanth Purohit for lack of evidence. The court removed all the allegations under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Arms Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Malegaon explosion took place on 29 September 2008 near Bhikku Chowk Mosque in Malegaon city of Nashik district. The explosion occurred with a bomb tied on a motorcycle, which occurred during the holy month of Ramadan and a few days before Navratri. Six people were killed and more than 100 people were injured in the explosion in the communally sensitive area.