The Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, an 89-year old largest such Islamic body in the country that issued a 'fatwa' signed by 6,000 Muslim clerics in Hyderabad ten days ago against terrorism, on Monday moved the Supreme Court for release of a large number of Muslim youths held in connections with blasts in Malegaon in 2006 and 2008.
Citing the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, self-styled Swami Dayanand Pandey and serving Lt Col. Shrikant Purohit in the September 29 blasts that killed six, its petition said that not only this but all three blasts in Maharashtra's textile town appear to be handiwork of the Hindu and hence need for release of the 'wrongly' arrested Muslim youths through an urgent inquiry by a retired Supreme Court judge or by a sitting High Court judge.
"Maharashtra Police started arresting people indiscriminately. The basis was to brand them members of (banned) SIMI. After arrest, young and highly educated boys were brutally tortured, physically and mentally by the police till the cases (of 2006 blasts) were handed over to the CBI. It is unfortunate that they are still languishing in jail," the petition said.
It added that despite the investigation for a considerable time, nothing has been found against these youths till date while the police did not look into links in the past blasts that clearly showed involvement of some Hindu elements.
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Coverage: The Malegaon blast probe