Following her acquittal in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur has made explosive allegations against the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), claiming that she was subjected to brutal custodial torture and coerced into naming senior BJP and RSS leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, as part of a politically motivated conspiracy.

Speaking to the media after a special NIA court absolved all seven accused due to lack of evidence, Thakur said, “They tortured me relentlessly and kept saying, ‘Name these people and we’ll stop beating you.’ Their intention was not justice, it was character assassination.” She claimed that while she was illegally detained for 13 days, the actual physical torture spanned 24 days under ATS custody.

“These were not investigations; they were politically driven vendettas,” Thakur stated. “I have documented everything and submitted it in writing — including the names I was forced to take under duress. This wasn’t about solving a case. It was about targeting the RSS, saints, and those associated with the idea of Bharat.”

Thakur squarely blamed the then Congress-led UPA government for what she called a conspiracy to fabricate the “saffron terror” narrative. “The Congress party attempted to destroy the foundations of this country — the RSS, Sanatan Dharma, and the Army. This case was part of that larger plot. But the truth has prevailed.”

Witness testimony corroborates Pragya Thakur’s assertions

Her claims appear to find some corroboration in court testimonies. Milind Joshirao, a key witness who later turned hostile, told the court that he too was threatened by ATS officers, including Param Bir Singh, to name five RSS functionaries, including Yogi Adityanath. “They kept me at the ATS office for seven days and treated me like an accused. When I refused to give false statements, I was threatened with torture,” Joshirao stated, as recorded by NIA Special Judge A.K. Lahoti. The court concluded that his statement appeared involuntary and compromised.

In a further twist, former ATS officer Mehboob Mujawar alleged in a media interview that senior officer Param Bir Singh had once directed him to arrest RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, as part of efforts to strengthen the “saffron terror” narrative in the aftermath of the blast. He claimed this was a deliberate strategy to malign nationalist organizations.

The Malegaon blast case, in which six people were killed and over 90 injured in an explosion near a mosque on September 29, 2008, was originally investigated by the ATS before being transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The recent verdict observed glaring lapses in the ATS probe, from tampered forensic evidence to coerced witness statements.

With the court acknowledging the lack of credible evidence and procedural integrity, Thakur has framed the acquittal not just as legal vindication, but as ideological triumph. “This is not my personal victory,” she said. “It is a victory of Bhagwa, Sanatan and Rashtra. The Congress’s conspiracy has been exposed.”