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Eight Malegaon blast accused set free

eight malegaon blast accused released

Nearly 10 years after the serial bomb blasts that killed 37 people, eight of the accused have been acquitted by VV Patil, Designated Judge of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). 


    
The bombs were planted on a bicycle parked near a Mosque at Malegaon, near Nashik, on September 8, 2006, while Friday prayers were on at the Mosque on the occasion of Shab-e-Baraat.


 The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially charge-sheeted nine people of whom one died while the case was pending. The CBI who later took over the investigations confirmed the charges against them.
    


Subsequently, the NIA was asked to probe the case and the agency, in 2011, arrested another set of people associated with a right-wing group called Abhinav Bharat, who continue to be accused in the case.

    
The judge said that he was accepting the discharge application filed by the eight accused as there was no evidence to prove their guilt.Â