Mumbai: Less than two months after being acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit has been promoted to the rank of Colonel in the Indian Army. His promotion, carried out quietly within a military gathering, has sparked renewed debate over accountability and justice in one of India’s most controversial terror cases.
Purohit was arrested in 2008 by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad for allegedly supplying RDX used in the Malegaon blast that killed six people and injured more than 100 in a Muslim-majority neighborhood. He was accused of founding Abhinav Bharat, an organisation which investigators claimed was created to push for a Hindu Rashtra with its own constitution and government.
A special National Investigation Agency court acquitted Purohit and six others, including BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, in July 2025, citing insufficient evidence and contradictions in the prosecution’s case. Families of the victims, however, have challenged the acquittal in the Bombay High Court, which has now issued notices to the NIA and the acquitted persons.
The NIA, which took over the case in 2009, has so far shown no intent to pursue an appeal, despite its earlier claim of seeking legal opinion. Questions remain unanswered on who was behind the attack that devastated Malegaon on September 29, 2008.
For many, Purohit’s promotion raises concerns about the message it sends, especially when survivors and families of those killed continue to seek justice. The controversy once again highlights the unresolved pain of Malegaon’s victims and the unanswered question of responsibility for the blasts.
