Malegaon blast: Clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya an insult to Hemant Karkare, says Congress

New Delhi: Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday attacked the central government, saying giving a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya in the 2008 Malegaon blast case was an insult to police officer Hemant Karkare.

"MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) was used on the accused after they accepted their crimes," Sharma told reporters. "What has happened is an insult to the memory of martyr Hemant Karkare.

"Karkare is unfortunately not with us to tell the country that he and his team carried out a fair investigation. And confessional statements were made by the accused and that was reflected in the charge sheets."

The Congress leader's remarks came after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) gave a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya and five other accused in the Malegaon case.

Karkare investigated the case as the chief of Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). He died in the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.

Questioning the government's intention, Sharma asked: "What made the government to suddenly make a U-turn?

"This government is trying its best to save people associated with its allied groups by saying that the arrests made and the charges laid against them were wrong."

Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said: "Today there is a question mark on the integrity of India and its commitment to fight forces of terror."