By Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on 28th Jan. deferred its judgment on the bail plea of nine Muslim youths accused in the Malegaon 2006 blast case till 7th Feb. They had filed the bail petition following the confession of RSS pracharak and terror accused Swami Aseemanand.
The CBI in its reply to the bail plea said that it’s conducting reinvestigation of the case with the permission of the honourable Court and the accused have not given any valid ground for the bail thus their bail plea must be rejected. Ironically it’s the same CBI, who on November 16, 2009 in front of the Bombay High Court had said it did not have evidence against the arrested Muslim youths.
Some accused in Malegaon 2006 blast case[Photo by NDTV.com]
Adv. Khalid Azmi who applied for the bail plea on behalf of Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, said that judge demanded the certified copy of Swami Aseemanand’s confession. He said, “Although we are trying our best to get the certified copy and also informed the judge that the CBI must also provide the copy since they have mentioned in their reply about the confession. Then the government lawyer said he will try to get the copy of the statement.”
The nine Muslims accused had moved the special court on January 17 seeking bail on the basis of the confessional statement of Swami Aseemanand and in their bail plea they said that there is no direct evidence of their involvement except forcibly taken confessions and after Aseemanand’s confession it’s clear that those responsible for the 2006 Malegaon blasts are not the current accused languishing in jail.”
Aseemanand, who was arrested last November for his alleged role in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blasts, had said in his confession recorded before the magistrate last month, that a right-wing group was responsible for the 2006 blasts in Malegaon, which killed 36 people and injured over 100.
The blasts took place near Hamidia mosque in the Bada Kabristan area around 1.15 PM on Friday on September 8, 2006, after the Shab-e-Barat prayers.
The police had arrested nine persons – Salman Farsi, Shabir Ahmed, Noorulhuda Doha, Rais Ahmed, Mohammed Ali, Asif Khan, Javed Sheikh, Farooque Ansari and Abrar Ahmed – for their alleged involvement in the blasts.
In December 2006, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.