Malegaon Blast Twist: Ex-ATS Officer Alleges Political Plot to Frame RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat

Pune: In an explosive twist to the long-running Malegaon blast saga, a retired Maharashtra ATS officer has alleged that he was given secret instructions to arrest Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat during the initial investigation into the 2008 blast. This revelation has sent shockwaves across Maharashtra’s political landscape just days after a special NIA court acquitted all seven accused, including BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, citing lack of evidence.

The startling claim was made by retired Inspector Mehiboob Mujawar, a former member of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), who spoke at a public event in Solapur on Thursday. Mujawar, who was part of the original investigation team, alleged that there was a deliberate attempt to frame RSS leaders under a fabricated narrative of “saffron terror.”

“I was directly told to go and catch Mohan Bhagwat,” said Mujawar, without naming who issued the order.

“The court’s verdict proves that a lot of what was done in that probe was fake. There was an effort to build a political case — not a legal one,” he added.

Mujawar further stated that he was given verbal directives concerning other controversial figures including Ramji Kalsangra, Sandip Dange, and Dilip Patidar, all of whom were once labelled fugitives in the case. According to him, “those orders were impossible to obey — both legally and morally.”

While the Malegaon investigation began under the ATS in 2008, it was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took a different direction, eventually resulting in this week’s acquittals of all accused.