Sudhakar Chaturvedi, one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case, on Wednesday alleged that anti-terrorism squad investigators had tried to frame Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adiyanath and other Hindu leaders in the case. The ATS were investigating the case before it was transferred to the National Investigation Agency. Adityanath was a Bharatiya Janata Party MP during the investigation.

On September 29, 2008, two blasts in Malegaon, Maharashtra, had killed at least six people and injured several others.

Chaturvedi, who was granted bail by a National Investigation Agency court on September 19, also claimed that many other Hindu activists were falsely implicated in the case by the then Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in Maharashtra. It was an attempt to appease minorities and prove the “theory of saffron terror”, he said.

“During my questioning, I was asked questions related to my affiliation with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its chief Mohan Bhagwat,” he said, adding that there were specific questions about Adityanath. “They tried to frame him through me.”

Chaturvedi was arrested after investigators recovered explosive material RDX from his house, which had ultimately led to the arrest of Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit. After serving a prison sentence for nine years, Purohit was granted conditional bail in August.

During its investigation, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad had filed a chargesheet against 14 right-wing extremists in the case.