A year later, Malegaon wants real culprits punished

MALEGAON: Commemorating the first anniversary of the twin bomb blasts here, a religious group on Saturday demanded the publication of the report by Patil Commission which looked into the 2001 riots while expressing doubt the two incidents are linked with each other.

"The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), in its charge-sheet, had said the blasts were triggered as a revenge of the 2001 riots. The Government-appointed Patil Commission, which investigated the riots, had submitted its report but the government is yet to publish its contents," Advocate SS Shaikh said.

"Had the report been published, the real motive behind the riots would have been known and the culprits could have been punished. This surely could have prevented the blasts," he said.

Shaikh, along with other senior citizens, staged a sit-in under the aegis of Kul Jamati Tanzeem, a religious body comprising heads of various Muslim sects, to protest over the investigations conducted by ATS and CBI into the explosions and disparity in giving compensation to the victims.

More than 31 people were killed and scores injured in the blasts in this communally sensitive town in North Maharashtra's Nasik district.

"Why is the government ashamed of making the report public? People should know about the real culprits. We don't understand this methodology of appointing a commission and not publishing its report," he said.