Recently, on July 31 2025, the Mumbai NIA Court acquitted Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Lt. Col Shrikant Purohit and five other accused of the accusations concerning the Malegaon Bomb blast after 9 years of imprisonment and a total of 17 years of indictment burden on their heads.
- The Malegaon blast occurred in a communally sensitive area of Malegaon in Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
- A motorcycle having a bomb attached to it exploded near a mosque during Ramzan (Islamic religious festival), killing six and injuring over 100.
- The investigation agency captured the motorcycle used in the bomb blast. It had barely had a chassis number and an engine number intact on it. Upon several tests, ATS concluded that the motorcycle was allegedly linked to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, sparking allegations of “Hindu Terrorism” or “saffron terror”— a term used to describe violence associated with Hindu nationalist groups.
Since the Hon. Court has given the verdict, reverse allegations have sparked. Who planned this “Hindu Terrorism” concept? Who planned this brutal plan of arrest, torture and disclosed such names which were never related to the case.
Let’s analyze the case incidents.
Initial Investigation by ATS
- October 2008: Former ATS officer Mr. Mujawar Mehboob initially took the case into his hands.
- 2008: The Government overthrew Mr. Mujawar Mehboob from his post, and then Shahid Hemant Karkare began probing the case.
- ATS arrested Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur after it found someone who allegedly used her motorcycle in the blast.
- ATS claimed she was involved in planning and had links to the right-wing group Abhinav Bharat.
- Officers of ATS arrested Lt Col Prasad Purohit as well, for allegedly procuring RDX and facilitating meetings.
Legal Proceedings & Shifts
- January 2009: ATS filed its first charge sheet.
- April 2011: Case transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
- 2016: NIA dropped charges under MCOCA but retained UAPA and IPC charges. It also alleged that ATS had tortured the accused to extract confessions.
Trial and Acquittal
- 2018–2025: Trial spanned 17 years, with 323 prosecution witnesses and eight defence witnesses. Around 40 witnesses turned hostile.
- April 2025: Final arguments concluded.
- July 31, 2025: Special NIA court acquitted all seven accused, including Thakur and Purohit, citing lack of reliable evidence.
Political Rise of Sadhvi Pragya
- 2019: Joined BJP and contested Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal, defeating Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh by over 3.65 lakh votes.
- Her candidacy sparked national debate due to her pending terror charges.
- She became a symbol of the BJP’s hardline Hindutva plank, despite controversies.
Behind the scenes
Former ATS Mr. Mujawar Mehboob’s statements
Former ATS chief Mr. Mujawar stated that he was under immense pressure to go to Nagpur and pick the RSS chief, Mr. Mohan Bhagwat. RSS is Rashtriy Swayamsevak Sangh.
Mr. Mujawar visited Nagpur but refused to arrest Mr. Mohan Bhagwat.
He mentioned that he went to Nagpur but was afraid to meet the RSS chief, as he knew the RSS chief was innocent in the case. He opined that someone forced him to do so unnecessarily.
However, who forced him to answer?
Removal of ATS chief
As soon as he refused to pick Mr. Mohan Bhagwat, the government at that time (Congress Party) removed him from the post and offered the same to Shahid Hemant Karkare.
Sadhvi Pragya Thakur’s statements
Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt Col. Shrikant Purohit both gave statements to the court that they were tortured brutally.
- Sadhvi said that despite being a woman, ATS men officers brutally beat her using a wider belt than usual (probably she is talking about an industrial belt).
- They used to beat her for more than 10 to 12 hours a day and stopped her from sleeping.
- ATS then chief Hemant Karkare himself shamelessly gave her bad words and beat her up badly
- She also said that the ATS officer used to show her bad videos. His colleagues used to advise him not to do so, but he never listened to them.
- She mentioned that ATS forced her to give statements that other highly respected leaders, such as then CM of Gujarat Mr. Narendra Modi, Current CM of UP Mr. Yogi Adityanath, RSS Chief Mr. Mohan Bhagwat, and others, were also involved in the incident.
- All the accused refused to lie, which was a reason ATS tortured them brutally and inhumanely, said Sadhvi.
- She also mentioned that the ATS officer forced other fellow members of Sadhvi to beat her on behalf of the ATS officers. Those fellow members were also arrested in this case and were brutally tortured too.
- Sadhvi said that the Congress government wanted to spread a new concept of “Hindu Terrorism” or “Saffron Terrorism” or in local language “Bhagwa Atankwad”.
- Opposition leaders Digvijay Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and P. Chidambaram were trying to narrate this “Saffron Terror” theory to the world, said Sadhvi.
- According to her, all the above Congress members, the then ruling party, tried to demean Hinduism and Hindutva.
Lt Col Shrikant Purohit’s statements
- ATS also arrested another accused in this case, Lt. Col Purohit, and took him to various places, including Lonavala, in no man’s land and tortured him, he said.
- He said that ATS officers once asked him to leave the bungalow in Lonavala, where he was with officers. He realized that he would have an encounter with ATS. He refused to leave, stating that his legs were brutally in pain due to excessive beating by the officers. Officers then took him to the Colaba, Mumbai office for further investigation.
- Like Sadhvi, ATS was trying to get the same respected names out of the mouth of Lt. Col Purohit. He also refused to do so despite being tortured and beaten up.
- One of the arrested accused mentioned that Sharad Pawar first brought the theory of “Saffron Terrorism” in 2008, and immediately, the Malegaon incident happened; however, Mr. Pawar’s daughter, Smt. Supriya Sule denied all the allegations, asking for proof.
Controversies are sparking all around the country.
- ATS chief Hemant Karkare did not die in the 26/11 attack, but someone planned this killing exactly at that time. Probably someone from the ATS office itself. Some are saying that, if he had opened his mouth, many big fish would have gone to hell.
- People also claim that Hemant Karkare died due to Sadhvi Pragya’s curse, drawing widespread criticism.
- Sadhvi, in anger, called Nathuram Godse a patriot, prompting PM Modi to say he couldn’t forgive her.
- She got removed from the Defence Consultative Committee and sidelined within the BJP, due to her statements.
- 2024: BJP denied her a ticket for re-election on BJP’s card; Alok Sharma replaced her.
Questions that remained unanswered
- If the court has acquitted the Malegaon accused, then who is the culprit enjoying the freedom for the last 17 years and watching the buildup of the case, mischievously?
- Why and who narrated Hindu Terrorism?
- Who and why some anti-nationals wanted to take a fake “Hindu Terrorism” agenda to the UN?
- Who forced ATS’ former and then chiefs to arrest RSS Mohan Bhagwat and forced the accused to give in writing the other members involved, like current PM Modiji, Yogiji, etc.?
- Why can’t the current government bring forward the planner behind the incident?
- Will the government take necessary steps to punish all the ATS officers alive now?
- Looking at the controversy above and the behaviour of the ATS chief, should people of India call Late Mr. Hemant Karkare a Shahid? If yes, then why?
- Will the real villain get his fate?
Conclusion
Some of these questions may get answered, and some are already known to the people of India. But about the rest of the questions? Will they get answered? Will the planner ever be exposed? When will the investigation agencies do their job selflessly, without pressure and fear? Who will empower them to do so? Probably none.
Hopefully, the government, investigation agencies and law will capture the real culprit soon. Please comment below on what you think about the incidents and the questions above.
