Nearly 20 years after four bombs exploded in Malegaon, Nashik district, the hope for answers to obvious questions, such as who executed the crime and why, faded this week when the Bombay High Court discharged the four accused. The blasts occurred after Friday prayers on September 8, 2006, in Hamidia Masjid, Bada Kabrastan, and Mushawarat Chowk, killing 31 and injuring more than 310.

The HC quashed a special court order framing charges against Rajendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh, Manohar Ram Singh Narwaria, and Lokesh Sharma under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code and the stringent Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had probed the case, arrested nine Muslim men, and filed a chargesheet in December 2006. Two months later, the case was transferred to........

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