'Go slow in Malegaon blast case' claim false: Naqvi

Panaji, June 26
Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Muktar Abbas Naqvi on Friday rubbished accusations that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to "go slow" in the Malegaon blast case.

Naqvi was in Panaji to address party workers on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

"I am not accusing anyone... But this is a part of the conspiracy of levelling allegations against the government every now and then," he added.

Rohini Salian, the special public prosecutor in the case, earlier this week alleged that she was asked by the National Investigation Agency to go slow in the Malegaon blast case in which some members of radical Hindu groups stand accused.

Seven people were killed in the blast which had occurred near a mosque in the Maharashtra town and initially several Muslim youth were arrested by the state police on suspicion of terror activity.

The investigation took a dramatic turn sometime later and the Maharashtra government's Anti-Terror Force eventually accused several members of Hindu radical outfits for the crime.

While insisting that "law will take its course" in the probe, Naqvi said: "Those who are innocent will not be punished. The guilty will not be spared. Where is the question of going fast or slow? The judicial process is on. The trial has not started."