MUMBAI: Sudhakar Chaturvedi, one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case, on Wednesday alleged that Hindu activists were falsely implicated in terror cases by the Congress–Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government to appease Muslim voters.
“When I was arrested, the UPA government was in power. Sudhakar Dwivedi (another accused) and me were falsely implicated so that the theory of safrron terror could be proved. It was all done so that Muslim votes could be gathered,” said Mr. Chaturvedi, who was granted bail last month, at a press conference.
After the investigation was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the agency filed a supplementary charge sheet in which it mentioned that RDX was planted at Mr. Chaturvedi’s residence in Deolali by an officer from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
“Why was no inquiry conducted against the officer?” asked Mr. Chaturvedi.
After his arrest, he alleged, the ATS had tried to frame Yogi Adityanath. “I was repeatedly asked about Yogi Adityanath, and the ATS made attempts to get answers from me which could help them frame him.”
He alleged that a hue and cry was created when Sadhvi Prgaya Singh and Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit were granted bail.
Mr. Chaturvedi said he suspected that an attempt is being made to save Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar, arrested by the Thane police in an extortion case.
“The arrest of Mr. Kaskar is a big thing. But not much has been made public about the statements he has given (to the police) which raises suspicion that there is an attempt to save him,” he claimed.
Mr. Chaturvedi is accused of having been part of the planning of the blasts and was arrested in October 2008 by the ATS. The blasts had left six dead and over 100 people injured.