Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 1: Amidst the release of all the seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast in which six people were killed and nearly 100 injured, a retired Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Officer Mehboob Mujawar on Friday revealed shocking and sensational details claiming that he was “instructed” to arrest the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat in connection with the case.
Mr Mehboob Mujawar, who was a part of the ATS team that initially investigated the blast before handing over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), also claimed there was an attempt to take the probe in the “wrong direction” and that false cases were registered against him for objecting to the plan.
The former ATS officer’s remarks came a day after a special court in Mumbai acquitted all seven accused, including former BJP member of the Lok Sabha Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, in the case on the grounds that there was “no reliable and cogent” evidence against them.
Six people were killed when a bomb planted in a motorcycle exploded in a busy market in Malegaon, around 300 km from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008. The Maharashtra ATS investigated the blast before it was handed over to the NIA, the country’s top anti-terror body.
“The seniors had ordered the arrest of RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat,” Mr Mujawar claimed. Mr Bhagwat became the RSS chief in March 2009. “The then Chief Investigation Officer of the Malegaon blast, Param Bir Singh, ordered me to arrest RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.” “Mohan Bhagwat was going to be included in the case to make it appear like a saffron terror case,” he said. The BJP has in the past alleged that the investigation into the case was carried out with an intention to defame and frame right wing leaders and target the Hindu community.
He said he was jailed for refusing to carry out the orders that came from his bosses, including former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, who was the Additional Commissioner of the ATS at that time. “I didn’t make any allegations, but presented what has been on the record. It has been proved in court. It is not about political pressure; rather, my boss, Param Bir Singh, and other top officials instructed me to arrest Mohan Bhagwat. There was this concept of ‘bhagwa atankwaad (saffron terror)’ running in the media. However, I refused to do this and was punished for it. I was arrested and put in jail. I was defamed,” Mujawar said. .
“There was an attempt to conduct a fake probe into the Malegaon bomb blast but I was not ready for it. False cases were registered against me in this case but my name was cleared later,” Mr Mujawar said. He said the then Congress government in the state must have put pressure on the then officials in the case. He also said that he was aware of confidential information in the case. “I was doing my service. I knew these things were false, that’s why cases were registered against me,” he said.
“I can request that the families of those who died in the bomb blast be given maximum compensation. The court announced Rs 2 lakh compensation, but they should be given more,” he added.
Mr Mujawar was suspended by the then state government. Reacting to his remarks, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “The 2008 conspiracy has been exposed. The then government created words like Hindu terror and saffron terrorism. At a time when there was a conversation about Islamic terrorism, those who voted for the government could not be made angry, that’s the reason why Hindu terrorism theory was created.”
Mr Singh was suspended in December 2021 amid allegations of misconduct during his term as Mumbai Police commissioner, after explosives were allegedly found outside Antilia, the Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. Subsequently, he accused then Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of extortion and interference. Mr Deshmukh was arrested but Mr Singh was booked by the state government on extortion and similar charges. The IPS officer retired in 2022. A year later, the Eknath Shinde government dropped all charges against him.
The blast in Malegaon took place during the holy month of Ramzan, just before the Navratri festival, the NIA pointed out, claiming the intention of the accused was to strike terror in a section of the Muslim community. The trial, which started in 2018, got over on April 19 this year. The prosecution presented 323 witnesses, of whom 37 turned hostile.
The special court, on Thursday, observed that while the prosecution had proven a bomb blast did occur, it failed to establish that the explosive was planted on the motorbike. The verdict has sparked reactions from spiritual leaders and political parties across the country, with the ruling party trying to corner Congress over “saffron terror” remarks.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of creating a “conspiracy of Bhagwa terror” and demanded an apology from Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, further noting that Congress can do anything for votes. Mr Prasad said, “The Congress can go to any limits for the vote bank. Congress created a conspiracy of Bhagwa Terror and started spreading it… The court found that there was no evidence or chassis number of the motorcycle. The witnesses also said they were tortured and forced to make statements…”
Taking aim at Congress leader and former Union Minister in the UPA regime, P Chidambaram, BJP leader said, “Chidambaram not only give certificates to Pakistan… He raised the issue of Bhagwa terror as the Home Minister and conspired to create a narrative… Why is Rahul Gandhi running away from the truth?”
While BJP leaders welcomed the judgment and demanded an apology from Congress, opposition parties said the verdict was intended to suppress the big news of the US announcing the imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on India. The lawyer representing the victims’ families said that he will be challenging the acquittal of the seven people in the High Court.