Owaisi slams acquittal in 2008 Malegaon blast case, calls out NIA, Modi govt
New Delhi: AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has strongly criticised the acquittal of all accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, calling it a "shameful failure of justice" and accusing the NIA and BJP governments of deliberately weakening the case.
Reacting to today’s verdict by a special NIA court in Mumbai, Owaisi wrote on X: “The Malegaon blast case verdict is disappointing. Six namazis were killed in the blast and nearly 100 were injured. They were targeted for their religion. A deliberately shoddy investigation/prosecution is responsible for the acquittal.”
He further asked whether the Modi and Fadnavis governments would appeal the judgment with the same urgency they showed in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts acquittals, and questioned the silence of Maharashtra’s so-called secular parties. “Who killed the 6 people?” Owaisi asked pointedly.
The MP also reminded the public that in 2016, then special public prosecutor Rohini Salian had revealed that the NIA had asked her to “go soft” on the accused. He pointed out that in 2017, the agency had tried to get Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur acquitted. She later became a BJP Member of Parliament.
Owaisi also referred to the late Hemant Karkare, the ATS chief who had initially uncovered the Malegaon conspiracy and was killed in the 26/11 attacks. “The BJP MP [Pragya Thakur] said she had cursed him, and his death was a result of that curse,” he wrote.
Ending his statement, Owaisi questioned whether NIA and ATS officers would be held accountable for the botched investigation.
“This is the ‘tough on terror’ Modi government. The world will remember that it made a terror accused a Member of Parliament,” he concluded.
Earlier in the day, the court acquitted all seven accused, including BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, citing lack of evidence. The blast had occurred on September 29, 2008, in Malegaon, Maharashtra, killing six and injuring over 100 people.
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Slain Australia beach shooting suspect native of Hyderabad: T'gana police
Hyderabad/Melbourne (PTI): Sajid Akram, the 50-year-old slain suspect in a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia, was an Indian citizen hailing from Hyderabad, Telangana Police revealed on Tuesday.
While he had migrated to Australia 27 years ago, Akram carried an Indian passport. Akram, along with his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, recently travelled to the Philippines on an Indian passport.
Akram, one of the two suspects in the mass shooting that has left 15 people dead and dozens injured, migrated to Australia in 1998 and had limited contact with his family here since then, the Telangana DGP's office said in a statement.
"Sajid Akram (50) is originally from Hyderabad, India. He completed his B.Com degree in Hyderabad and migrated to Australia in search of employment, approximately 27 years ago, in November 1998," it said.
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He married a European-origin woman before settling permanently in Australia. The couple have one son, Naveed (the second suspect who is in custody at a hospital in Australia) and one daughter, it said.
Naveed and Akram's daughter were born in Australia and are citizens of that country, the statement said.
On Tuesday, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett described the mass shooting as "a terrorist attack inspired by the Islamic State."
According to Australian authorities, the suspects were a father and son, aged 50 and 24. The older man, who was identified as Sajid Akram, was shot dead.
The Telangana police said Akram visited India on six occasions after migrating to Australia, primarily for family-related reasons such as property matters and to meet his elderly parents.
It is understood that he did not travel to India even at the time of his father's demise, the statement said.
The family members have further expressed no knowledge of his radical mindset or activities, nor of the circumstances that led to his radicalisation, police said.
"The factors that led to the radicalisation of Sajid Akram and his son, Naveed, appear to have no connection with India or any local influence in Telangana," Telangana police said.
Telangana Police further said it has no adverse record against Akram during his stay in India before his departure in 1998.
The state police said it remains committed to cooperating with central agencies and other counterparts, as and when required, and urged the public and media to avoid speculation or attribution without verified facts.
Quoting security sources, Australia's ABC News reported that Akram and Naveed travelled to the Philippines to receive "military-style training".
"Investigators are now examining the Akrams' ties to an international jihadist network, after discovering the pair travelled to Manila in early November," it said, quoting officials briefed on the investigation.
The Philippines Bureau of Immigration confirmed the pair arrived in the Philippines from Australia on November 1, declaring the southern city of Davao - a hotbed for Islamic militants since the 1990s - as their destination, it said.
"They left the country on November 28, 2025, on a connecting flight from Davao to Manila, with Sydney as their final destination," ABC News quoted the Philippines' Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval as saying.
Sandoval said Akram entered the country on an Indian passport, while his son, Naveed, entered on an Australian passport.
In the Philippines, Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office and Press Officer for Malacanang Palace Claire Castro said that the National Security Council (NSC) is currently looking into reports that the father and son duo travelled to the country a month before the attack.
