A long way to go to ensure justice

The decade of 'home-grown terrorism' that started in 2006 with the bomb explosions in Malegaon, Maharashtra, has taken a new turn in 2016.
The fickle mindedness shown by the NIA in handling the current phase of 2006 Malegaon bomb blast case in the court has cast a shadow of doubt on its future functioning.
On April 12 NIA opposed the discharge of nine persons that had been arrested in 2006 Malegaon blast case.But Judge V V Patil, in response to a petition filed by the accused, discharged them of all charges they were facing.
In all fairness the NIA should have started the process to release the Muslim accused because it had told the court earlier that it had no evidence to indicate that these persons had played any role in the bomb blast. The point became a matter of debate as NIA had already arrested a different group allegedly associated with militant organization Abhinav Bharat in the same case. The unsavoury discussion also has its roots in the claim of the public prosecutor Rohini Salian that she had been asked by the NIA to go slow on the prosecution of the fresh set of people. There are also reports that because of deceleration in the investigation and prosecution in the Malegaon and other cases, two of the main accused Sadhvi Pragaya Singh Thakur and serving Col. Prasad Purohit could come out on bail soon.
Malegaon is a communally sensitive town in Nasik district. The blast had taken place near Hamidia Mosque adjacent to which is a big cemetery. Initial investigation had revealed that the bombs had been strapped to bicycles. The town was rocked by another serial blast in Bhikku Chowk, on September 29, 2008 and left four persons dead and injuring more than 70 others. The ATS at that time was headed by now slain senior police officer Hemant Karkare who for the first time arrested some Hindu right wingers allegedly for carrying out explosions.
In the 2006 case the nine men-Noorul Huda Samsudoha, Raees Ahmed Rajab Ali Mansuri, Salman Farsi Abdul Latif Aimi, Farogh Iqbal Ahmed Madumi, Mohammad Ali Alam Sheikh, Asif Khan Bashir Khan, Mohammad Zahid Abdul Majid Ansari, Abrar Ahmed Ghulam Ahmed and Shabbir Ahmed Masiullah-were arrested by the Maharashtra ATS on September 8. They were charged under various sections and kept in prison for five years before being granted bail. One of the accused, Shabbir Ahmed Masiullah later died in an accident.
The 2006 bomb explosions had killed 37 people and injured about 100. The ATS filed a charge-sheet against these persons on December 21 and said that they had links with banned organisation Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). In February 2007 the case was transferred to CBI. Ironically, the CBI did not find anything wrong in the ATS investigation and confirmed the involvement of these men in the blasts.
The NIA was brought into picture on April 13, 2011. It found that the nine men had nothing to do with the blasts. It charge-sheeted 14 other persons that included Sadhvi Pragaya, Col. Purohit, Major (Rtd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Rakesh Dhawade, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Pravin Takalki, Shivnarayan Kalsangra, Shyam Sahu, Ajay Rahirkar and Jagdish Mhatre. Two accused - Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange who are also accused in Mecca Masjid bomb blast case of May 2007 are still absconding.
The Malegaon bomb blast was followed by a series of other similar cases in the country such as Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif. The handling of these cases afflicted Muslims with huge sense of insecurity because they were treated as first suspects. Many of them were arrested, tortured and kept in prison.
Later investigations revealed that it was members of Hindu militant organisation Abhinav Bharat and a few others who had planned and carried out these insidious acts. Swami Aseemanand, one of the key accused in all these cases, spilled the beans and gave the court names of several persons. He also told in detail where and how these acts were planned and executed. Though he withdrew his court statement later, his recorded an interview to a reputed magazine to nail the sinister motives of the right-wingers who were burning with hate and sense of revenge. The investigations had revealed that about 800 persons had been given training to carry out various forms of terrorist activities. Today their whereabouts are not known. It was also revealed that about 45 kg of RDX had been smuggled from military store houses and distributed to various people in 2006 and later. But there is no news where it is lying today.
Though the Malegaon case has become a classic case study it is yet to reach its final conclusion. At the same time the results of the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer bomb blast cases would show which way the country is heading.