NIA to probe suspended cop’s claim on custody deaths

MALEGAON BLASTS CASE

THE NATIONAL Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the 2008 Malegaon blasts, has told a special court that it will investigate claims of suspended assistant police inspector Mahiboob Mujawar that two of the main accused — Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange —were killed in custody by the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism Squad and their bodies disposed of as victims of the Mumbai terror attacks.

“On Friday, one of the accused (Col Shrikant Purohit)broughttheclaimsmadebymujawartothe noticeofthecourt.thecourtaskeduswhatstepswe will take. We told the court that we will find out the truthfulness of the statement made by Mujawar,” Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal said.

Mujawar, who made the allegations in an affidavit in a Solapur court, where he stated that he was “witness to their killings and the disposal of their bodies as victims of 26/11 terror attacks”.

“On the night of the 26/11 attack, ATS officers shot Kalsangra and Dange at Kalchowkie unit and later ferried their corpses to CST railway station. They were shown as victims of 26/11. The bodies were ferried in a white jeep and the same has been captured by two TV channels covering the attack at CST. I will reveal the names of the officials before the court,” Mujawar said.

Mujawar alleged that the “murders” were approved by a senior IPS officer but he was not certain about the motive. “A probe into the case can ascertain the motive. I don’t know the motive but I have evidence to back my case,” he said.

Mujawar claimed that he was “unofficially appointed” by a senior police officer from the ATS and was in Mumbai for four months. “I was unofficially handpicked by a senior IPS officer who was supervising the probe and I was directly reporting to him. The said officer, who is currently serving the Maharashtra Police, had even issued a revolver to me and I even have correspondence relating to the same. I was asked to focus on Kalsangra, Dange and Ramchandra Pawar. I, in turn, had handpicked officers from Solapur police station where I was attached. We visited various places in Indore, Jalgaon, Ajmer, Jaipur in connection with the probe. Dange and Kalsangra were illegally detained at the Kalachowkie unit,” he claimed.

Mujawar claimed that he knows what happened to Dilip Patidar, one of the witnesses who went missing after the blast. A habeas corpus was filed by his family members, and a CBI probe was ordered. The central agency had then registered a case against two former ATS officers— Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajendra Ghule and Police Inspector Ramesh More.

“I didn’t witness his killing but I know what had happened to him and will reveal the same before the court,” said Mujawar, who plans to file a fresh affidavit before the Solapur court.

Mujawar has been booked under two cases — one under the Arms Act and the other pertaining to Disproportionate Assets.

“The two cases are fabricated and have been filed as I am privy to information which is sensational in nature and which might even cause embarrassment to the ATS and senior officials attached to Maharashtra Police,” Mujawar said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the media that Mujawar’s claims would be probed. “We have to look into why no action has been taken since 2009. The concerned person says that a letter was sent to the DG and still no action was taken. We need to verify the claims.”