Witness Claims Pressure to Implicate Yogi Adityanath, RSS Leaders in 2008 Malegaon Blast Probe

In a revelation that raises troubling questions about the initial probe into the 2008 Malegaon blast, prosecution witness Milind Joshirao told the court that he was detained and pressured by Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) to falsely implicate senior RSS functionaries and current Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath.

The witness was one of 39 witnesses who turned hostile during the trial, which culminated in the acquittal of all seven accused on July 31, 2025. Among those acquitted were BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit.

Joshirao’s testimony was introduced during trial proceedings to help establish the motive and background behind the alleged formation of Abhinav Bharat, the organisation that the ATS claimed was behind the blast that killed six people and injured over 100. However, instead of supporting the ATS’s theory, Joshirao levelled serious allegations against the investigating officers.

According to the judgment delivered by NIA Special Judge A.K. Lahoti, Joshirao stated:

“ATS treated me like an accused and kept me for seven days at their office. The officers pressured me to name five RSS individuals, including Yogi Adityanath, Asimanand, Indresh Kumar, Professor Devdhar, Sadhvi, and Kakaji, in my statement. They assured me I would be released if I did so. When I refused, DCP Shrirao and Additional Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh threatened me with torture.”

The judge also noted that Joshirao’s statement had been “written down/recorded solely by an ATS officer,” casting doubt on the voluntariness and admissibility of the statement.

Joshirao was picked up on October 28, 2008, nearly a month after the blast, and was held at the ATS office until November 7.

During this time, he alleges that officers sought to extract a false narrative linking RSS leaders to the blast conspiracy. He ultimately did not support the prosecution’s version of events in court.

The ATS had initially alleged that the blast was orchestrated by members of Abhinav Bharat, a purported right-wing extremist group allegedly founded by Col. Purohit. The investigators claimed that a motorcycle registered in Pragya Thakur’s name was used in the explosion and argued that the accused were part of a larger plot to incite communal unrest and establish a “Hindu Rashtra”.

The group was allegedly drafting a new constitution, raising funds, and training for guerrilla warfare. But the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the case in 2011, filed a supplementary chargesheet dropping charges against several accused, including Pragya Thakur, citing insufficient evidence.

The trial, which began in 2018, extended over six and a half years.

In acquitting the accused, the special court found that the prosecution failed to provide reliable or cogent evidence on key aspects of the case, including the installation of the bomb, the ownership and use of the motorcycle, and the role of Col. Purohit in storing or assembling explosives. The case has been further clouded by a separate allegation from a former ATS officer, Mehboob Mujawar, who claimed that Param Bir Singh had instructed officers to arrest RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and other senior leaders to build a narrative around “saffron terror.”

The Malegaon judgment acts as a decisive legal response to the 'Hindu terror' label once amplified by sections of the political establishment. It underscores that criminal courts are not theatres for ideology, and convictions cannot rest on political expediency or public sentiment.

Case Title: National Investigation Agency v. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur & Ors.

Judgment Date: July 31, 2025

Bench: Judge A. K. Lahoti