The town has witnessed riots in 1984 and in 1992 when large-scale violence took place in the aftermath of the Babri mosque demolition.The last and worst large-scale communal violence erupted on October 26, 2001 soonafter the US bombing of Afghanistan, when Muslims in Malegaon had called for aboycott of US goods. The communal riots continued for five days, killing 15people injuring many more, destroying property worth crores. This is perhapswhat brought Malegaon on the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) radar. The LeT disinformationprogramme picked up, with its website carrying pictures, which it alleged, wereof mosques and copies of the holy Koran destroyed by Hindu militants. In 2003, soon after the Ghatkopar blast, police claimed to have neutralised a terror modulein Malegaon with purported plans to attack the Maharashtra Mantralaya, led by SIMI member NoorSikander.