A Mumbai Court has acquitted all eight accused of 2006 Malegaon bomb blast case. A bench of Justice VV Patil gave the verdict on the plea of nine accused, out of which 1 is dead, six are out on bail and two are convicted.
The court questioned the locus standi of Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in the case.
The accused, Salman Farsi, Noorulhuda Doha, Rais Ahmed, Mohammed Ali, Asif Khan, Javed Sheikh, Faroogue Ansari and Abrar Ahmed, were being investigated for four bomb explosions on September 8, 2006. The blasts have killed 37 people and injured more than 100. The explosions took place near Hamida Masjid in the Bade Kabarastan area of Malegaon.
The men have already spent five years in jail before being granted bail in 2011.
In 2011, the National Investigation Agency took over the case. They have alleged that they were tortured into making confessions by the police.