PM Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh should explain Malegaon prosecutor’s revelations, says Congress
Congress leader Ajay Maken said that SPP Rohini Salian’s revelation has established that the NIA wants the terror accused 'sympathetic to RSS/BJP ideology' to be acquitted.
SPP Rohini Salian has revealed that she has been under pressure from the NIA to go “soft” in the case ever since the new government came to power.
Recalling that Home Minister Rajnath Singh had visited Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, in jail , the Congress on Thursday reacted sharply to Special Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian’s revelation that she has been under pressure from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to go “soft” in the case ever since the new government came to power. The Congress also sought answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Home Minister.
“These revelations are shocking and establish a conspiracy to help the terror accused that reached the very top echelons of power in the country, including Director General of the NIA and the Prime Minister, Home Minister,” said senior Congress leader Ajay Maken. He said the Home Minister must own up responsibility.
2008 Malegaon blast
Salian’s revelations, Maken said, has established that the NIA wants the terror accused “sympathetic to RSS/BJP ideology” to be acquitted. “The Prime Minister and Home Minister must explain their role in compromising the integrity of an on-going trial in the Malegaon blast case,” he said. The Congress said the NIA cannot be trusted any more and demanded that the probe be monitored either by High Court or the Supreme Court. It also demanded the sacking of NIA chief Sharad Kumar.
In an interview to The Indian Express, Salian had said that earlier this month an NIA officer had told her that “higher-ups” did not want her to appear in the court for the State of Maharashtra and that another advocate would attend the proceedings.
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh recalled that Rajnath had once met Pragya in jail. During the UPA tenure, he said, the BJP leaders had even asked former PM Manmohan Singh to go slow on cases involving Hindu extremists. He asked Prime Minister Modi and Rajnath to clarify whether the NIA officer, whom Salian had referred to, was acting on his own.
“The Prime Minister and the Home Minister should clarify whether the NIA officer was acting on his own or under instructions from Home Ministry. The development was not unexpected as the BJP leadership had tried to bargain with Manmohan Singh not to pursue cases in which Hindu extremists were accused,” he said.
At the AICC briefing, Maken said, “It is a very serious matter. NIA DG should be immediately removed because he is responsible for it. The SC or HC should monitor the NIA probe directly.”
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chairman and MP Asaduddin Owaisi said he was not surprised by the revelations of the special public prosecutor because under the NDA government NIA has not moved legally against any decision that favoured the accused in Hindu terror cases. “On March 12, 2014 the alleged masterminds of the Mecca Masjid blast case got bail. NIA could have appealed against the decision within 90 days but they chose not to do so. Neither did it appeal against the decision to grant bail to Aseemanand.”
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