Malegaon blast case acquittal a win for every 'bhagwa', hails Pragya Thakur

Mumbai: Former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur said Mumbai NIA court's order to acquit her and six others in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, which claimed six lives and injured 101 others, was not just a win for her, but for every "bhagwa" (saffron), referring to the Hindu right-wing outfits. 

After the verdict, Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and the other five accused thanked Special NIA Judge A K Lahoti and their lawyers. Tahkur said her life was ruined for the past 17 years, and that 'God will punish those who tried to insult bhagwa'.

Thakur told the court her life was spoiled since her arrest in the case in 2008 and that she was able to survive only because she was a "sanyasi". "This case was not just fought by me but by Bhagwa (saffron). Mera pura jeewan kalankit kar diya tha (my whole life had been disgraced)," she said.

"Aaj Bhagwa ki vijay hui hai, nyay ki jeet hui hai (today Bhagwa has won, justice has won). Jisne bhi bhagwa ko badnaam kiya bhagwaan use saza dega (whoever insulted bhagwa, God will punish them)," Thakur told the court.

Purohit said he was implicated in the case and asserted he will continue to serve the nation as before and with the same vigour. "No investigating agency is wrong; it is the people serving in these agencies who are wrong. This nation is great. We must take care that wrong people do not rise and make people like us suffer," he said.

Purohit, who was reinstated in the Army pending trial, said he would continue serving the organisation and the nation.