Patna, July 31 (IANS) Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS) National President and Bihar Minor Water Resources Minister Santosh Kumar Suman on Thursday strongly reacted to the acquittal of all accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, calling it a complete collapse of the Congress-sponsored ‘saffron terrorism’ narrative.

Addressing the media persons in Patna, Santosh Suman said that the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court’s verdict, which acquitted all seven accused, including BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, has exposed the political conspiracy that was allegedly hatched by the then Congress government to malign the majority community.

“The Malegaon blast case has finally come to an end after 17 years, and the court has acquitted all the accused due to a lack of evidence. This has demolished the Congress’s fabricated theory of ‘saffron terrorism’,” Suman said.

The acquitted individuals include Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur (BJP MP), Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Sameer Kulkarni and Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi.

The Malegaon blast occurred on 29 September 2008, killing six and injuring around 100 people.

At the time, a Congress-led UPA government was in power at the Centre.

The Minor Water Resources Minister of Bihar pointed out that the verdict by Judge A. K. Lahoti clearly stated that the NIA failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove the charges.

Santosh Suman accused the Congress of launching the ‘saffron terror’ narrative in a bid to divert public attention from a series of Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks that rocked the country during its tenure.

“The Congress, instead of confronting Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, tried to shift the narrative by inventing the concept of ‘Hindu terrorism’. This was a conspiracy not just against individuals but against an entire community,” he alleged.

Santosh Suman hailed the verdict as a victory of truth and justice, and urged political parties to avoid communal polarisation for electoral gains.

–IANS

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