Malegaon blast case: UP CM Yogi Adityanath alleges terrorist nurturing by Congress

This comes after a witness in the 2008 Malegaon blast case recently claimed in an NIA court that he was forced by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) at the time to name Yogi Adityanath and other BJP leaders in connection to the blast.

New Delhi:Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday slammed the Congress for launching false cases and nurturing terrorists.

"You must have seen Maharashtra ATS statement...you must have seen how at that time they used to put false cases on workers and leaders of BJP, RSS, Hindu leaders," Adityanath said.

"When Congress was in power they used to inspire and nurture terrorists, now when they are in opposition they protest against the work done for the development of people of this country," he further noted.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP and RSS dialogue Rakesh Sinha, on the other hand, said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi should apologize for trying to implicate BJP as well as Sangh leaders in the Malegaon blast case.

This comes after a witness in the 2008 Malegaon blast case recently claimed in an NIA court that he was forced by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) at the time to name Yogi Adityanath and other BJP leaders in connection to the blast.

"The Malegaon blast case happened in 2008. No evidence was found till 2014. Be it this incident or the Samjhota Express case, every attempt has been made to implicate innocent Hindus. During Congress rule, innocent Hindus have been labeled 'saffron terrorist'. The ATS was acting as a puppet of the Congress High Command in the case...", Sinha said.

The BJP leader further accused Congress of bias, saying the party never asked any of its own leaders, including the likes of Sushil Shinde and P Chidambaram who in various instances used terms like 'saffron terrorism', to apologize or take back their words.

The witness in the blast case, meanwhile, has said in his statement that the ATS has tortured him. So far a total of 220 witnesses have been questioned in the case.

RSS leader Indresh Kumar, meanwhile, joined Sinha in his claim for Gandhi and former CM Manmohan Singh to apologize for their actions in yesteryears, adding that Congress leaders directed public respect to Gandhi, but kept on disrespecting Savarkar.

“Under the leadership of Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, Congress-led UPA conspired against 'bhagwa' and linked it with terrorism. They attempted to misuse (probe) agency officers to arrest people so as to defame religious leaders, but failed miserably…They want us to give respect to Bapu but keep on disrespecting Savarkar. They should apologize to the country.”, he said.

With agency inputs