Will seek justice right up to top court, says 75-year-old Nisar Ahmed, who opposed Pragya Thakur's discharge from Malegaon blast case
, a 75-year-old resident of Islampura, whose 19-year-old son, Sayyad Azhar, was killed in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast, said on Thursday that he will seek justice up to the Supreme Court.
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Ahmed, who had filed an intervention plea opposing Pragya Singh Thakur's discharge from the case, intends to file an appeal against the special NIA court's verdict, which acquitted all seven accused in the case.
Ahmed, who has been struggling with a hearing problem and deteriorating health, summed up his reaction in one word: "Dejected
During the trial, Ahmed filed an intervention plea through Jamiat-e-Ulma, which has been assisting blast victims in their legal battles, to challenge the dropping of charges against Pragya Singh Thakur.
Ultimately, she was not discharged and faced trial.
Since the early 2000s, Ahmed had been running a tyre supply business from his shop near the bridge on the Mausam river in Malegaon. He ceased operations a few years after Azhar, his second child, died in the blast. He still has a copy of a newspaper dated Sept 30, 2008, which reported the blast, listing the names of the deceased and injured.
These days, Ahmed rarely leaves his house.
However, on Thursday, he visited Malegaon town. "We will pursue the case in the higher courts till we get justice for Azhar," he said. "Azhar was only 19 when he died. Eyewitnesses told us that he was leaning on the same bike that exploded. He collapsed on the ground with serious injuries and, worse still, in the chaos after the blast, he got further injured," Ahmed said.
Ahmed's wife, Mehjabeen, recalled that Azhar had bought a new set of clothes on the day of the blast and had asked her to keep them ready for Eid, which was to be celebrated the following day. "When he was leaving the house that day, he had said that he was not feeling well. I wish he had not gone out," she said.
Irfaana Hamdani, a lawyer from Jamiat-e-Ulma, said, "The acquittal of the seven accused in the
is unacceptable. We do not agree with this verdict, for which we waited for 17 years. We will move the higher courts for justice."
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