A special NIA court in Mumbai has acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit. Special Judge AK Lahoti passed the order on Thursday after a lengthy trial that spanned nearly 17 years. The accused have been acquitted of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Arms Act, and other charges.

The blasts, which occurred on September 29, 2008, in Malegaon, Maharashtra, killed six people and injured over 100. An improvised explosive device (IED) was placed on an LML Freedom motorcycle in a locality with a large Muslim population during the month of Ramzan.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially investigated the case and arrested 12 people, including Pragya Singh Thakur, Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sudhakar Dwivedi. The ATS alleged that the blast was part of a conspiracy involving the group Abhinav Bharat and invoked provisions under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), UAPA, and Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

In 2010, the probe was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which filed a supplementary chargesheet in 2016. The NIA recommended that MCOCA be dropped and stated that there was insufficient evidence against some of the accused, including Thakur. However, in December 2017, the special court ruled that seven of the accused—Thakur, Purohit, Upadhyay, Kulkarni, Rahirkar, Chaturvedi, and Dwivedi—would face trial under the IPC, UAPA, and Explosive Substances Act.

The other accused who have been acquitted are Major Ramesh Shivji Upadhay, Sameer Sharad Kulkarni, Ajay Eknath Rahirkar.