A former police officer has claimed that he was given the order to arrest Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat to establish "Bhagwa terror" angle in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
A retired Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer has made explosive claims against the very investigation he once served around the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Former inspector Mehiboob Mujawar has alleged that he was instructed to arrest Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat in a bid to fabricate a “Bhagwa terror” angle in the high-profile case. Speaking out after the recent acquittal of all seven accused, Mujawar asserted that the court’s verdict has dismantled the “fake things” orchestrated during the initial probe. “The verdict exposed the fake investigation done by a fake officer,” he said, even naming a senior officer allegedly involved in the controversial directions.
“I can not say what investigation the ATS did then and why… But I was given some confidential orders regarding personalities like Ram Kalsangra, Sandip Dange, Dilip Patidar and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. All these orders were not such that one could follow them,” Mujawar revealed.
He further claimed that he consciously chose not to act on those orders as they were “horrific” in nature and contradicted the truth. “It was beyond my capacity to apprehend a towering personality like Mohan Bhagwat. As I did not follow the orders, a false case was registered against me and it destroyed my career of 40 years,” the retired officer said.
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Mujawar said he possesses documentary evidence to substantiate his statements and asserted, “There was no saffron terrorism. Everything was fake.”
Malegaon Blast Case Verdict
The claims come in the wake of a special NIA court’s decision to acquit former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, and five others due to “lack of reliable and cogent evidence” and multiple procedural flaws.
The Malegaon blast, which took place on September 29, 2008, claimed six lives and left many injured when a bomb — allegedly attached to a motorcycle — exploded near a mosque during Ramzan and on the eve of Navratri in Nashik’s Malegaon city.
The ATS had then accused Thakur of owning the motorcycle used in the blast, and alleged that Purohit had sourced RDX from Jammu and Kashmir and stored it in his house. The initial investigation, spearheaded by the late Hemant Karkare, led to their arrest later that year.
"Bhagwa Terror" Angle
Soon after the Malegaon blast case verdict was announced, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis highlighted how "Bhagwa" (saffron) has never been and never will be related to terrorism. "Aatankvad bhagwa na kabhi tha, na hai, na kabhi rahega," ("Terrorism was never saffron, is not, and will never be") the Maharashtra CM posted on X.
The lawyer of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the accused acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, also welcomed the court's verdict on Thursday, saying that it has been proven that nothing like "saffron terrorism" exists.
Speaking to ANI after the judgment, Advocate JP Mishra said, "After the struggle of 17 years, it has been proven that nothing like saffron terrorism exists. Congress wrongly implicated people in this saffron terrorism case just before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections."
Advocate JP Mishra also referred to remarks by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying, “Yesterday, the Union Home Minister also said that a Hindu cannot be a terrorist.”
