Mumbai, July 31 -- Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday welcomed the NIA court's verdict acquitting all seven accused in the Malegaon Blast Case, saying that innocent people were held in jail for an "extremely long time".

Speaking to the media, Shinde also slammed the opposition, saying that this is a slap on the face of those who called the incident "saffron terror."

"I welcome the decision. It has been 17 years. Innocent people were held in jail for an extremely long time. This has been very unfortunate for Today. Malegaon has declared them innocent," he said.

He targeted the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government regime and said that when terrorist attacks were happening in Maharashtra, there was their g...