Malegaon blasts: Will govt challenge latest HC order, asks man discharged in 2016

Nashik: Noorul Huda Samsudoha, among the 13 people who faced trial in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case and among the nine discharged in 2016, on Friday questioned if govt would challenge the latest discharge of the four people who were arrested later by the NIA, as was done in their case."We were arrested and tortured. No one listened to us when we were in custody. Govt had challenged our discharge order, and it is still pending with the high court. I want to know if govt will also challenge the latest court order," said Samsudoha, a casual worker now in his early 50s."The court had given us a clean chit on the basis of investigations of NIA, which arrested four others and filed a chargesheet against them. Those four people are discharged now. We also want justice for the people killed in the blast," he said.The ATS had arrested Samsudhoha and eight others — all Muslims — in 2006 and the remaining four — all Hindus —were arrested by the NIA, which had taken over the case later, in 2012. The trial against these four started late compared to that of the nine earlier arrested and discharged in 2016.On Sept 8, 2006, four bomb explosions in the textile town of Malegaon had left 31 people dead and 312 injured. Bombay high court on Wednesday discharged the four accused in the blasts case and set aside a trial court order framing charges, including terror offences, against them.Among the people initially arrested for the blasts in 2006 were casual workers, shopkeepers, unani practitioners, civil construction site workers, a mechanical engineer and an imam.Irfana Hamdani, a counsellor who is associated with Jamiatul Ulama organisation of Malegaon and Mumbai assisting the blast accused, said, "The 2016 discharge orders were based on hearing of all those who were party to the case. Yet, that decision has been challenged."Hamdani said, "The latest HC order was based on an appeal filed by four people — all Hindus arrested by the NIA in the same case in Dec 2012 — against framing of charges by the trial court. They claimed that the trial court and prosecution had no evidence against them. If HC has now acquitted them, we want govt and NIA to challenge their acquittal as well."