The court order in the Malegaon bomb blast case shows how easy it is to arrest and frame charges against Muslim youth. The eight Muslim youth accused in the case were released due to lack of evidence against them. The serial bomb blasts outside a cemetery near Hamidia Mosque in September 2006 claimed 37 lives and left 100 injured. The case was investigated by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) and later by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) which confirmed the charges. In 2011 the NIA probed the case and came to the same conclusion. The verdict in the case is a slap on all these premier investigation agencies and casts serious doubts on their ability to ferret out evidence and get the people behind the blasts. If three agencies could get the wrong guys then there is something seriously wrong with all of them and the State and Centre must intervene. It is obvious the agencies were led by stereotypes, played to the gallery and in the end lost credibility.
