Charges against eight Muslim youths accused in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case were on Monday dropped by a special court in Mumbai due to lack of evidence against them.

The accused were discharged by V V Patil, Designated Judge of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), nearly 10 years after the serial bomb blasts outside a Muslim cemetry near a Mosque at Malegaon, near Nashik, on September 8, 2006, killing 37 people and leaving over 100 injured. Bombs were planted on a bicycle parked near the cemetry while Friday prayers were on at the Mosque on the occasion of Shab-e-Baraat.