‘I Was Tortured to Name RSS Leaders, Yogi Adityanath’: Malegaon Blast Case Witness Makes Explosive Revelations

New Delhi: Seventeen years after the 2008 Malegaon blast killed six and injured dozens, a special NIA court in Mumbai acquitted all seven accused, citing lack of evidence and serious lapses in the investigation. Following the verdict, Milind Rao Joshi,  president of Abhinav Bharat and a witness in the case,  has come forward with a detailed account, alleging political conspiracy, custodial torture, fabrication of evidence, and pressure to name RSS leaders, including Yogi Adityanath.

Milind Rao Joshi, who has been associated with the case since its inception, said, “Congress at the time started a movie called Malegaon Files. The producer was someone from the top leadership of the Congress. The director, who recently passed away, was also from the Congress. And the screenplay writer was Mr. Chidambaram, who coined the term Saffron Terror.”

He questioned Chidambaram's stand post-verdict: “Today, I want to ask Mr. Chidambaram,  what does he have to say about this? And does he still have faith in the judicial system of India?”

Joshi alleged that the entire case was fabricated to target Hindu organizations. “We have been saying this for 17 years,  this case is totally fabricated. We feel vindicated today.”

He explained how evidence was allegedly planted, “If you look at the details of the case, you’ll find that the motorcycle couldn’t be proven to be Sadhvi’s. Then RDX was planted in Chaturvedi’s room to show that it was the same used in the Malegaon blast. An ATS officer visited that room at night. An army sentry witnessed this and reported it to his superior, a major at the time.”

“The entire objective,” Joshi said, “was to implicate Abhinav Bharat members and frame them with planted RDX.”

He also raised questions over the conduct of then ATS chief Hemant Karkare. “He had reportedly received threats from Hindu groups. Why didn’t he inform his seniors? Instead, he informed Digvijay Singh in Madhya Pradesh. Why was he in touch with him? Was Digvijay Singh controlling the matter? The SIT must investigate this.”

Calling the episode “a classic case of political terror,” Joshi stated, “This was neither Muslim terror nor Hindu terror. I accuse the Congress of orchestrating the bomb blast to implicate Hindus.”

Sharing his own ordeal, Joshi revealed, “I was illegally detained for a couple of weeks. My family had no idea where I was. During interrogation, ATS officers told us they had a target,  to arrest at least 10 to 15 of us. They demanded we name RSS people.”

“I was pressured to give the names of five RSS leaders. This is in my witness statement to the Hon'ble Court. They wanted to establish a Hindu terror narrative from day one.”

When asked if he was tortured to name RSS leaders, Joshi responded, “Yes, precisely.”

He then made a serious allegation, “Primarily, I was pressured to name Yogi Adityanath ji. Back in 2008, he was just a Member of Parliament. I was not the only one,  other witnesses were tortured and forced to name RSS leaders. I have clearly stated this in court.”

He described the extent of the pressure, “I was abducted,  that would be the correct word. Nobody knew where I was. Though the case was being investigated by Maharashtra ATS, CBI officers from Delhi came to our homes, picked us up, and took us to jungles near Sinhagad Fort in Pune. They threatened to kill us in fake encounters.”

“These CBI officers,” he continued, “were sitting inside the Pune ATS office, dictating terms to the Maharashtra ATS officers. It became clear that they were running the show.”

In another explosive claim, Joshi referred to an incident during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. “An ATS officer named Mujawar alleged that two absconding accused in the Malegaon case,  Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra,  were killed during the 26/11 attack and shown as unidentified bodies. Mujawar personally told me this.”

He said CBI officers used coercion to extract statements:
“They showed us fake arrest warrants. We were told,  if you want to avoid arrest, write this confession. Handwritten notes were provided to witnesses before being presented before magistrates.”

Referring to another witness, he said, “Captain Nitin Joshi was shown a pistol just outside the magistrate's courtroom before giving his statement as dictated.”

Joshi said he was taken to the ATS office in Kala Chowki, Mumbai. “There, I could hear Colonel Purohit being tortured. I didn’t see him, but I could clearly hear him. As for Sadhvi Pragya, I never personally saw her being tortured.”

Now, with the court ordering the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), Joshi urged authorities to examine every aspect,  from alleged custodial excesses and political involvement to the planting of evidence and targeting of individuals.

Milind Rao Joshi’s testimony, made public after nearly two decades, adds a new and serious dimension to the Malegaon blast case, one that could reshape public memory and raise significant questions about how terror investigations were pursued at the time.