Mumbai, July 31 (IANS) Hours after a Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case in which six people were killed and over 100 were injured, the victims and the families of the deceased on Thursday expressed deep disappointment with the verdict and announced their intention to challenge it in the Bombay High Court.

Over 17 years after the deadly blast that shook Malegaon during the holy month of Ramzan, survivors and relatives of the deceased say the court’s decision has reopened their emotional wounds and shaken their faith in the judicial system.

Speaking to IANS, blast survivor Ansari Ahmad from Malegaon said, “It was the month of Ramzan when the blast occurred. Everyone knows lives were lost. Even the court acknowledged this by awarding Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured. But this verdict has deeply pained us. We will definitely challenge it in the High Court.”

Another resident, Qayyum Qasmi, echoed the sentiment, saying the judgment has left Malegaon in grief.

“This verdict has weakened our trust in the court. We plan to approach the High Court, the Supreme Court, and also the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. In many past cases, accused have been acquitted due to lack of evidence. We believe the government influenced this verdict. Justice must be served,” he said.

Shahid Nadeem, a lawyer representing some of the victims, said that although the court acquitted the accused, it did so by giving them the benefit of the doubt, not through a clear exoneration.

“This is not a clean acquittal. The court acknowledged that the blast happened, yet the accused were let go. We are going to appeal this decision in the Bombay High Court,” he told IANS.

The NIA court delivered its verdict, concluding one of India’s most controversial terror cases after nearly two decades of legal proceedings. The judgment acquitted former BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, and five others of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Arms Act, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), citing insufficient evidence.

The blast occurred on September 29, 2008, near Bhikku Chowk mosque in Malegaon, a communally-sensitive town in Maharashtra. The attack killed six people and injured over 100.

The court had reserved its judgment on April 19, following years of arguments, over one lakh pages of documentation, and the examination of 323 witnesses — 34 of whom turned hostile.

Initially investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), the probe was transferred to the NIA in 2011.

–IANS

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