Saffron has won, Hindutva has won: Pragya Thakur hails acquittal in 2008 Malegaon blast case

Mumbai: After all seven accused were acquitted in the September 2008 Malegaon blast an emotionally-charged Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur said “Bhagwa ki jeet hui, Hindutva ki jeet hui”.

Even, Lt Col Prasad Purohit thanked the Indian Armed Forces for standing behind him for the past 17 years.

The seven who stood trial, asserted that they were falsely implicated in the case even as some of them specifically said that it was at the behest of the Congress.

All seven of them were on bail and soon after the verdict, they completed the necessary formalities and walked free.

Saffron has won: Sadhvi

An emotional Sadhvi Pragya Singh, who is a former BJP MP from Bhopal, said: “I am alive because I am a Sanyasi. They defamed Bhagwa through a conspiracy. Aaj bhagwa ki jeet hui, Hindutva ki jeet hui (saffron has won, and Hindutva has won)”.

According to her, her position from the very beginning was that she was called for investigation without any basis. “I was called by them for investigation and was arrested and tortured. This ruined my whole life,” she said, adding that God will punish those who were guilty.

Want to thank armed forces Col Purohit

Former Military Intelligence official Lt Col Prasad Purohit said he would like to thank the Indian Army for standing behind him while he faced the trial. “The nation is everything,” he said.

“I thank you for giving me a chance to serve my nation and my organisation with the same conviction which I was doing before me being framed in this matter. I thank all my friends, my colleagues,” he said, making a brief statement.

“I don't blame any organisation for all this. Organisations like investigating agencies are not wrong, but people inside the organisations are the ones who have done wrong. I thank you for restoring the faith of the common man in the system again,” he added.

Asked to name Mohan Bhagwat, Yogi Adityanath: Sudhakar Chaturvedi

It was a harrowing experience, said Sudhakar Chaturvedi. “Couple of years ago, I had taken sanyas. I don’t know what to do now, where to go,” he said, adding that he was sure that the acquittal would be challenged in the Bombay High Court and then Supreme Court.

“We will continue to fight,” he said, adding that the real accused behind the incident needs to be caught so that the people get justice. “During the custody, we were told to name( RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat and (now Uttar Pradesh chief minister) Yogi Adityanath,” he claimed, adding that it was a “political case”.

I have been waiting for this day: Sameer Kulkarni

"For the last 17 years, we have been waiting for this day. I have faith in the judiciary. I am sure that it will put a stamp on the fact that we are innocent. The world will finally learn the truth we've known from the very beginning,” said Sameer Kulkarni, who hails from Pune. and has attended court hearings almost every day.

Today, if the verdict comes in our favour, no one needs to be shocked. The entire investigation was carried out under pressure from the government,” he said and slammed the erstwhile Democratic Front government and blamed Congress leader and then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh and former union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde.