Malegaon, August 05: Ever since the news report of the court order dismissing Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) charges against the 11 accused detained in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast is made public, the mood in Malegaon is a kind of shock and dejection. Though people in the town express total respect to the Court order, they just fail to believe how it can happen to those who had reportedly confessed not only to killing the innocent people but also to seeking help from the Zionist government in Israel to overthrow the Indian Government.
Shocked they might have been, but they have not lost their conscious. Hence, while they feel dejected by the court order, they express total respect to the verdict and put all the blame over to Maharasthra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) for not carrying the investigation with the gist Hemant Karkare – the slain ATS Chief who was killed in November 2008 Mumbai terror attack had painstakingly carried till his death.
“Since the day K. P. Raghuvanshi was reinstated to the post of ATS Chief we were demanding from the State Government to revoke its decision stating the people of Malegaon have no faith in him. In our demands, we were also joined by the secular people from all across the country. But the State Government did not pay any heed to our concerns. Friday’s MCOCA court order is the direct consequence of the State Government order to reinstate Raghuvanshi as state ATS Chief”, said Abdul Hameed Azhari, leader of the Kul Jamaati Tanzeem Malegaon while speaking to ummid.com.
Kul Jamaati Tanzeem that comprises of the religious leaders from various Muslim sects is working for the release of the Muslim youths arrested in connection with the 2006 Malegaon blast. Tanzeem leaders believe the Hindu terrorists detained in 2008 Malegaon blast might have been responsible even for the 2006 blast.
The court order dismissing the MCOCA charges against the accused have also brought the leaders from various political parties to a single platform.
“When Rakesh Dhavde was discharged by the court in Prabhani and Purna cases for want of evidence one after the another, speculations began taking the round that this might prove a beginning for the relief to everyone who were detained in the case. The court order just vindicates this notion”, said Mufti Mohd Ismael, leader of the Third Front that rules the Civic Body in Malegaon.
Rakesh Dhavde, an antique arms trader from Pune was found to be linked to three other criminal cases and had been chargesheeted in one of the three cases, which related to a blast outside a mosque in Purna, before he was picked up for the Malegaon blasts. He was charged for the two other older cases after he was picked up for Malegaon. This had allowed the ATS to impose MCOCA on him and — by extension — on the other accused in the case.
Former Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader Nehal Ahmad termed the court order as total failure by the state government and the ATS. “It is because of lack of interest on the part of the ATS after Hemant Karkare disappeared from the scene and the soft corner the State Government has towards the Hindu terrorists that the accused have got the relief from the MCOCA court”, he said while reacting on the development.
Local Congress MLA Shaikh Rasheed and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Yusuf Seth too expressed their displeasure and termed the decision as a setback to the justice that people of Malegaon were hoping for after the Hindu terrorists were exposed and arrested by the ATS after the blast.
Meanwhile, Arif Naseem Khan, Minister of State for Home called a high level meeting yesterday in his chamber that was attended by Joint Secretaries from the concerned departments, ATS Chief K. P. Raghuvanshi and Special Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian among others and decided to appeal in the High Court against the court verdict within eight days. State Government has already obtained a stay on the order and the MCOCA court has given it four weeks time to appeal in the High Court.
–Agencies