http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=Rajiv_Gandhi_assassination_Former_CBI_officer_questions_Karunanidhi_role_20121031_06
Rajiv Gandhi assassination: Former CBI officer questions Karunanidhi's role
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.
Courtesy : The Indian Express
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