Malegaon blasts case: Narendra Modi government should sack NIA chief, demands Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday demanded that the Narendra Modi government should sack the National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief whose role in the investigation into the Malegaon blasts has been questioned by a Mumbai special court.

"NIA has been misused to give clean chit to the BJP and RSS people who were involved in the terrorism cases. The Special Court in Mumbai too has come down heavily on NIA for not investigating the role of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case," senior Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza said at a press briefing at the party headquarters here. 

"Scathing remarks of the court established the dubious role of NIA and we demand that the chief of NIA should be immediately removed from his position," Oza added.

She also said, "Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh should explain to the country that who is the manipulative hand in their government that is allowing the miscarriage of the justice in this case."

Oza said the NIA in its chargesheet had said that there was no case against Pragya Thakur, and insisted, "There were reasonable grounds to believe that charges against her were prima facie true".

Thakur was denied a bail by the Special Court in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Oza also demanded re-installation of Rohini Salian as public prosecutor. She had to leave the case amidst alleged pressure from the NIA to go soft on the Malegaon accused.