CM admits state police unable to crack Dabholkar’s murder
NAGPUR: Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday admitted that the state police has been unable to make any headway in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case.
Chavan, who was addressing a rally, also said that he was not against a fresh probe into the killing of Dabholkar by other investigative agencies, including the CBI.
His statement assumes importance in the wake of Maharashtra home minister RR Patil ruling out handing over the probe to any other agency. Patil had claimed that the local police had the required expertise to investigate the case.
Anti-superstition activist Dr Dabholkar was shot dead on the morning of August 20 by two unidentified assailants in Pune.
“The state police set up 19 teams to investigate the case and used all the information it could gather. However, the case is still unsolved,” said Chavan.
The chief minister was scheduled to visit Karanja and Akola on Saturday to attend the Congress’s first “vachanpurti” rally, as a run up to the 2014 general elections campaigning. But he could not attend the programmes as his plane landed in Nagpur because of bad weather.
At another rally, Chavan, in response to a question, said that the escape of the Indian Mujahideen operative and Ahmedabad blasts accused Afzal Usmani was gross negligence on part of the police.
“We have already initiated action against the guilty and an inquiry has been ordered,” he said.