'Malegaon Blast Case Deliberately Linked To 2007 Samjhauta Express Bombings By Fake Submission': S Gurumurthy

New Delhi: The Editor of the Tamil political weekly magazine Thuglak, Swaminathan Gurumurthy, on Friday said that the 2008 Malegaon case was not only "fabricated" but also deliberately linked to the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings.

Taking to X, Gurumurthy wrote, "The Malegaon case was fabricated & more, deliberately linked to the Samjhauta case by a fake submission made on 18.11.2008 by the prosecution counsel that Col. Purohit supplied RDX for the Samjhauta blast. A great conspiracy to internationalise the Hindu terror narrative."

In another post on X, he hailed the NIA court's verdict on the Malegaon blast case and stated that it has debunked the "anti-Hindu" and "anti-national" narrative of Hindu terror. He also slammed Congress leader P. Chidambaram for coining the term "saffron terrorism."

"After the Mecca Masjid case verdict in 2018, the Samjhauta case verdict in 2019, the Malegaon verdict yesterday has completely destroyed the anti-Hindu, anti-national narrative of Hindu terror trotted out by P. Chidambaram on 28 Nov 2011 in the DGPs conference," his post read.

The term “saffron terrorism” was coined by personalities including former Union Home Ministers P. Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde.

While addressing the annual DGP/IGPs conference in Delhi on August 25, 2010, Chidambaram, who was the union Home Minister at that time, said that a “recently discovered phenomenon of ‘saffron terrorism’ has been implicated in many bomb blasts of the past." He was referring to the 2008 Malegaon blast case, the Samjhauta Express train bombings, and the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif blasts of 2007.

Chidambaram’s successor, Sushil Kumar Shinde, during his address at the Congress Chintan Shivir in Jaipur, took it a step further and said that "saffron terror" was being operated from terror camps run by the RSS and the BJP while referring to the Malegaon blast case and the Samjhauta Express case.

He later retracted his statement, saying, “I did not intend to link terrorism with any religion... I express regret to those who were hurt by my remarks."

About the Malegaon Blast Case Verdict

Mumbai's NIA special court on Thursday acquitted all seven accused of being involved in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, 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.

A total of 7 people were accused, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni.

'All bail bonds of the accused are cancelled and sureties are discharged," the NIA special court said.

The court had examined 323 prosecution witnesses and 8 defence witnesses before pronouncing the verdict. The 7 people have been acquitted of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms act and all other charges.

"Prosecution proved that a blast occurred in Malegaon but failed to prove that bomb was placed in that motorcycle," the Judge Abhay Lohati said.

The court also mentioned that there were some manipulation done of medical certificates. "Court has come to a conclusion that injured people were not 101 but 95 only and there was manipulation. In some medical certificates," the court said.

The court also said that there is no evidence of storing or assembling the explosives in Prasad Purohit's residence, who was another accused in the case.

"No sketch of spot was done by the investigation officer while doing panchnama. No finger print, dump data or anything else was collected for the spot. The samples were contaminated so reports can't be conclusive and relied upon," the court said.

On the alleged role on Abhinav Bharat organisation, the court said that there was no evidence of the funds of the organisation being used for terror activities.

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, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya.

Also Read: Former ATS Officer Mehmood Mujawar’s Explosive Reveal On Malegaon Blast Case Probe: 'Was Picked To Get Mohan Bhagwat And Fabricate Evidence'