Journalism of Courage
Premium
This is an archive article published on October 19, 2017
No RSS interference in bail: Malegaon blast accused
Upadhyay, a retired Indian Army Major, said he was not surprised when Rohini Salian, a former special public prosecutor in the case, alleged that she was being asked by the National Investigation Agency to “go soft” ever since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014.
2 min read
Still from Malegaon blast. (File)
Ramesh Upadhyay, one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case who has got bail, claimed that the case against him and some other co-accused was “weak” and that they were “falsely implicated” and hence he was freed. He dismissed suggestions that his bail was a result of “interference” by the RSS or “Hindutva forces”.
Upadhyay, a retired Indian Army Major, said he was not surprised when Rohini Salian, a former special public prosecutor in the case, alleged that she was being asked by the National Investigation Agency to “go soft” ever since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014.
Salian had made this claim in an exclusive interview to The Indian Express in 2015. She was later replaced in the case. Upadhyay got bail in September.
“I respect Rohini Salian. Whatever she did or said, she did it as part of her duty…. We all (accused) are innocent. The state anti-terrorist squad (ATS) arrested us falsely. Later, after taking over the probe NIA found that evidence in this case is weak. What will the investigation officer tell the public prosecutor of the case on knowing that the case is based on weak evidence? Obviously the investigators would ask the public prosecutor to go soft,” Upadhyay told The Indian Express.
Advertisement
Loading Taboola...
Live Blog
Top Stories
Advertisement