In a memorandum sent to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on April 27, Qaumi Majlis-e-Shoora demanded clamping of ban on Abhinav Bharat, the Hindutva Right wing organisation allegedly involved in the blast that took place in Malegaon on September 29, 2008. It has also demanded suspension of the officers named in the affidavit of the 2006 blast witness, who has now turned hostile, for hatching the conspiracy to implicate the innocents in the 2006 blast case, immediate release of the accused and payment of an adequate compensation to them, writes Aleem Faizee on ummid.com.
Talking to the media persons at Marathi Patrakar Sangh in Mumbai on April 28, Maulana Abdul Karim Milli, president of the Qaumi Majlis-e-Shoora said, “We had given a similar kind of memorandum to then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh on August 4, 2008, demanding action against the same officers who are now being named by Abrar Ahmad, the witness in the case who has turned hostile, in his affidavit.
“After the allegations Abrar Ahmad has made in his affidavit, our stand is vindicated. We demand from the government to ban Abhinav Bharat and take action against the officers for hatching the conspiracy to implicate the innocents in the 2006 blast case.”
The Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) had arrested the nine accused, whose names are mentioned in the memorandum, under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MACOCA) and filed the charge sheet in December 2006. The charges framed against the accused include executing and planning the serial blast in Malegaon on September 8, 2006. The charge sheet also mentioned one of the nine accused Abrar Ahmad as approver in the case. But the day ATS filed its charge sheet R. R. Patil, then Home Minister of the State announced to hand over the investigation into the blast to the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI). Even as CBI was yet to complete the investigations, reportedly because of a petition pending in the Supreme Court challenging the MACOCA against the accused, Abrar Ahmad, the lone witness in the case turned hostile and filed a fresh affidavit in front of the notary on April 18, 2009.
Meanwhile in a separate request sent to CBI Director Arun Kumar, Mufti Mohd. Ismail, the local Third Front leader has expressed concern over the CBI investigations under the current investigating team. “The people in Malegaon have always regarded the CBI with high esteem. However after the allegations made by Abrar Ahmad in his affidavit, the people in Malegaon are apprehensive of the CBI investigations,” the letter sent to Arun Kumar states.