Mumbai: In a sensational claim, a suspended Maharashtra ATS officer has told a Solapur court that two of the absconding accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case are in fact dead but falsely shown as “alive” by high-ranking police officers.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis described the allegation by Anti-Terrorism Squad’s (ATS) former senior inspector Mehmood Mujawar as “quite serious” and said the government will look into the matter.

The application filed in August before a magistrate court in Solapur claimed that Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, who are among the accused in the Malegaon blasts case, are “no more”.

Notably, Mujawar was suspended after a case under Arms Act and criminal intimidation was filed against him. Mujawar, in his application, alleged that the case was filed against him as a conspiracy and was a pressure tactic as he wanted to reveal the truth about the “death” of Dange and Kalsangra.

When asked about Mujawar’s claim, former ATS chief KP Raghuvanshi rubbished it, saying, “I don’t even remember who this Mujawar is or if he was even part of the team that investigated the case. At least in my tenure in ATS, nothing of this sort happened.”

A retired police official, who has worked in the ATS, questioned Mujawar’s claim, asking as to why the allegation is being made now after eight years. A bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in Malegaon on September 29, 2008, killing seven people and injuring around 100.

According to the investigating agencies, the Malegaon blast was carried out by right-wing extremists and 11 persons are presently in jail, including Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.