NIA may probe Joshi murder
With RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi's name turning up at the centre of all terror acts by right-wing extremists, the security establishment is coming to the conclusion that central investigators will have to take over the probe into Joshi's murder in 2007 to unravel the complete terror conspiracy.
With RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi's name turning up at the centre of all terror acts by right-wing extremists, the security establishment is coming to the conclusion that central investigators will have to take over the probe into Joshi's murder in 2007 to unravel the complete terror conspiracy.
The home ministry that had been reluctant to over-burden the National Investigation Agency (NIA) with the probe, has been told by investigators that there may not be any other option since Joshi appeared to be at the heart of every terror conspiracy hatched by the extremists.
Joshi's name has come up as the key organiser of the extremists responsible for the Samjhauta Express, Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif blasts. He was murdered under mysterious circumstances at Dewas in Madhya Pradesh in December 2007.
There is unanimity within the NIA, CBI and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police that Joshi's murder was linked to the primary role that he played in terrorist acts.
"Everyone we speak to, tells us that Joshi was the main figure… I do not think there is any other way (than to investigate his murder)," a senior officer in the government's security apparatus said.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had recently told HT that he would not transfer the Joshi murder case to the Centre.
Unlike the CBI that needs the concurrence of the state government, the NIA Act gives the Centre powers to take over any terrorism-related case from the state police.
Government sources said a stand-alone murder cannot be transferred under this law. "But Joshi's murder does not appear to be just a killing, unrelated to his alleged terrorist activities," a source said, hinting that the Madhya Pradesh police's attempt to link it to personal enmity might be off the mark.