Nine years after seven people died in the communally-sensitive textile town of Malegaon in Maharashtra, key accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit was granted bail by the Supreme Court. The top court flagged the delay in the start of trial and the glaring contradictions between the chargesheets of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which initially investigated the case, and the National Investigation Agency which took over later. While the country's top counter-terror agency, the NIA, had opposed bail for Lt Col Purohit saying there was proof that he had made and supplied the bomb used, the Congress has launched an all out attack against the investigating agency, accusing the government of "protecting all RSS-connected accused".