Nashik: Noorul Huda Samsudoha, one of the 13 individuals who faced trial in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case and among the nine discharged in 2016, on Friday questioned whether the government would challenge the latest discharge of the four people who were arrested later by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), as was done in their case.
Background of the Case
On September 8, 2006, four bomb explosions in the textile town of Malegaon killed 31 people and injured 312. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially arrested Samsudoha and eight others, all Muslims, in 2006. The remaining four, all Hindus, were arrested by the NIA in 2012 after it took over the case. The trial against these four began later compared to the nine earlier arrested, who were discharged in 2016.
Samsudoha's Statement
“We were arrested and tortured. No one listened to us when we were in custody. The government had challenged our discharge order, and it is still pending with the high court. I want to know if the government will also challenge the latest court order,” said Samsudoha, a casual worker now in his early 50s.
“The court had given us a clean chit based on the investigations of the NIA, which arrested four others and filed a chargesheet against them. Those four people are discharged now. We also want justice for the people killed in the blast,” he added.
Bombay High Court Order
On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court discharged the four accused in the blasts case and set aside a trial court order that had framed charges, including terror offenses, against them. Among the people initially arrested for the blasts in 2006 were casual workers, shopkeepers, Unani practitioners, civil construction site workers, a mechanical engineer, and an imam.
Reactions from Counselors
Irfana Hamdani, a counselor associated with the Jamiatul Ulama organization in Malegaon and Mumbai, who is assisting the blast accused, said, “The 2016 discharge orders were based on hearings of all those who were party to the case. Yet, that decision has been challenged.”
Hamdani added, “The latest High Court order was based on an appeal filed by four people, all Hindus arrested by the NIA in the same case in December 2012, against the framing of charges by the trial court. They claimed that the trial court and prosecution had no evidence against them. If the High Court has now acquitted them, we want the government and NIA to challenge their acquittal as well.”
