2008 Malegaon blasts: Congress wants SC-monitored probe, says NIA is NaMo Investigation Agency
The Opposition party alleged that the chargesheet filed by the NIA brought uncertainty over India’s commitment to fight terrorism.
The Congress on Sunday said that it wants a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the 2008 Malegaon blast case. The National Investigation Agency has become the NaMo Investigation Agency, senior party leader Anand Sharma said.
Sharma further claimed that the chargesheet filed by the NIA in the case on Friday seemed to be aimed at “decimating and demolishing” the “meticulous” investigation conducted by the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad led by its then chief, late Hemant Karkare. Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to uphold his Constitutional oath by letting the apex court monitor the case, the Opposition party said NIA’s chargesheet brought uncertainty over India’s commitment to combat terrorism, PTI reported.
The investigative body on Friday filed a chargesheet in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case before a special court in Mumbai. It dropped all charges against accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and five others, saying it did not have sufficient evidence to name Singh in the chargesheet, which also said that the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act was not applicable with regard to this incident on September 29, 2008, when at least six people died and 101 others were injured after two bombs exploded in Malegaon town in Maharashtra’s Nashik district.