Ajmer Singh : New Delhi, Wed Oct 31 2012,
00:41 hrs
A
new book on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has alleged that no probe was
conducted into the “abrupt cancellation” of DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s scheduled
public meeting in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991 — the day when Rajiv was
killed.
In
the book, Conspiracy to Kill Rajiv Gandhi: From CBI Files, the author, K
Ragothaman, who was CBI’s chief investigating officer in the case, says: “It
was the talk of the town that all DMK men should not stir out on the late
evening of that fateful day. This aspect was not inquired into at all. If any
investigation would have been done, the person who had contacted the DMK leader
and advised him not to go to the Sriperumbudur meeting... would have been
unearthed.”
Ragothaman
further claims that when he wanted to question Karunanidhi, then SIT chief D R
Karthikeyan asked him not to “create such issues”, adding that “no worthwhile”
investigation was carried out to probe the involvement of politicians “at the
behest of the SIT chief”.
“When
I collected the evidence about the cancellation of the meeting and brought it
to the notice of the chief of SIT to question the DMK leader... I was told that
part of investigation was done by him and that DGP Rangaswamy had requested the
DMK leader to cancel the meeting... I was chided by the SIT chief not to create
such issues... I kept quiet and later went through the affidavit of DGP B P
Rangaswamy before the Justice Verma Commission. I found that there was no such
statement,” he writes.
“To
my surprise, when I was present at a hearing held by the Justice Jain
commission of inquiry at Delhi, I heard the DMK leader deposing that he had to
cancel the meeting at the request of the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Bhishma
Narayan Singh,” he says, adding that Rangaswamy had stated in his affidavit
that he had taken “all steps to provide arrangements for both the leaders at
Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.”
Rubbishing
the allegations, Karthikeyan told The Indian Express: “This is utter
nonsense... to gain cheap publicity. All the evidence collected during the
investigation was produced before the courts, which scrutinised it threadbare,
praised and endorsed the investigation. It was also rated as a ‘model’ probe by
Interpol. After 22 years, somebody is trying to sensationalise it.”
But
Ragothaman countered that Karunanidhi’s public meeting had been planned in
advance and advertisements were issued in local newspapers. “The meeting was
abruptly cancelled on May 21, at around 11:30 am, when the DMK headquarters
issued a telegram to its local office stating that it had been postponed. I
traced the telegram and apprised the SIT chief about it but he didn’t permit me
to investigate,” he told The Indian Express.
The
book also questions the role of former IB chief M K Narayanan, who is now the
West Bengal Governor, alleging that a video taken at Rajiv’s Sriperumbudur
meeting, which reportedly had pictures of the assassin (Dhanu), was not made
available to the CBI team. It claims that the “assassin gang” was waiting in
the “sterile” area for over two-and-a-half hours.
“The
original video reached the IB chief M K Narayanan and that is why he referred
to it in the note sent by him to the then PM... On the action taken report, the
Government of India decided to conduct an investigation against M K Narayanan
and others. Strangely, this case was registered in SIT CBI and later buried at
the behest of the chief of SIT. Is it not obvious that M K Narayanan had
suppressed vital piece of evidence found on record and was allowed to go scot
free by the chief of SIT D R Karthikeyan?” says the book.
Ragothaman
further alleges that the then RAW chief G S Bajpai tried to ensure that the
LTTE was not blamed for the assassination. “On the early morning of May 22,
Prime Minister Chandrasekhar convened a meeting of CCPA, in which RAW chief G S
Bajpai and IB director M K Narayanan were also present... It is reported that
Subramaniam Swamy had said that it could be LTTE... the chief of RAW vehemently
pleaded that it was not LTTE.”
According
to the book, Bajpai told Chandrasekhar that “Kittu of LTTE was their mole”.
“Kittu could never be a mole as he was the right-hand man of Prabhakaran. I
only admire how Kittu was clever enough to keep the RAW chief as his mole,” it
says.
Meanwhile,
CBI officials claimed today that they had conducted a meticulous probe into the
case and the question of alleged supression of evidence does not arise.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rajiv-killing-former-cbi-officer-questions-karunanidhi-s-role/1024291/0
