Malegaon blast case Live: This is a slap on face of those who called it 'saffron terror', says Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde

On NIA Court acquitting all accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case, Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde said, "This is a slap on the face of those who called it 'saffron terror'..."

"I welcome the decision. It has been 17 years. Innocent people spent such a long time in jail. This has been very unfortunate for them. Today, Malegaon has declared them innocent...I would like to remind you about one thing, when terrorist attacks were happening in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country, UPA Govt was in power. They had said that terrorism has no colour or religion or name. But in the context of Malegaon blast, they declared it 'saffron terror'. It was their conspiracy to defame 'saffron' and Hindutva. Hindus are tolerant but patriotic. Balasaheb Thackeray used to say that whoever is patriotic is our own, On NIA Court acquits all accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case and whoever is 'Pakistan premi' is not ours, irrespective of their caste or faith...They stand exposed today. This is a slap on the face of those who called it 'saffron terror'..."

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: On NIA Court acquits all accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case, Maharashtra AIMIM President Imtiaz Jaleel said, "A question arises whenever such judgments are made. This judgment resembles those related to the train blast in Maharashtra a few days ago. After 19 years in jail, the culprits of the train blast were acquitted, claiming they were innocent. Soon, the Maharashtra government went to the Supreme Court and said that they could not accept this judgment. They had done the right thing... Now that this decision has been made, what will the Maharashtra government do in response, since innocent people also lost their lives in this incident?... We do not know anything. Questions should be raised on ATS and NIA..."

Mumbai, Maharashtra: NIA Court acquitted all the accused in the Malegaon blast case | Lt Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit said, "I am extremely grateful to the country and those who stood by us. I am grateful to the judiciary for understanding the case and delivering justice to all of us. During the fight, the Armed forces stood by me. I have no words to express my gratitude to all of them..."

On NIA court acquitting all the accused in the Malegaon Blast case, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, "... After 17 years, all the accused were acquitted. The Maharashtra government went to the Supreme Court against the verdict of the Mumbai 2006 Mumbai train blast case. Won't this be a hypocrisy on terrorism if they do not go to the Supreme Court? Military-grade RDX was used in the blast. Where did it come from?... Who is responsible for these bomb blasts? The ones who actually did it are roaming free. My question is, will the Modi Govt and the Maharashtra Govt go to the Supreme Court against this verdict?..."

On NIA court acquitting all the accused in the Malegaon Blast case, BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad says, "Congress's conspiracy of Hindu terror has been destroyed. There was no evidence against any of the accused. Colonel Purohit, who fought against terrorism in Kashmir, was accused. Pragya Thakur was accused of using her motorcycle in the blast. She was tortured so much that she could not walk after that. This was a Congress conspiracy for sheer vote bank politics... We welcome the court's decision..."

The NIA court has acquitted all accused in Malegaon blast case, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Colonel Purohit and others. On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and several others injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon City, Nashik.

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