Missing witness: CBI seeks nod to prosecute police officers

The CBI has sought the Maharashtra government’s sanctions to prosecute two then officers of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for their alleged role in the abduction and disappearance of Dilip Patidar, a witness in the September 2008 Malegaon blast case.

The CBI has sought the Maharashtra government’s sanctions to prosecute two then officers of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for their alleged role in the abduction and disappearance of Dilip Patidar, a witness in the September 2008 Malegaon blast case.

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An ATS team had picked up Patidar on the night of November 10, 2008, from his Indore residence and brought him to Mumbai allegedly without seeking permission of the local police or courts, according to findings of a CBI probe.

A week after Patidar was picked up, he went missing from Mumbai where he was allegedly in the ATS detention, said a CBI source.

“We have sought the Maharashtra government’s sanction to chargesheet two then ATS officers — an inspector and an assistant police inspector— for the abduction of Dilip Patidar from Indore and his detention in Mumbai. We are still waiting for the sanctions,” said the source.

The CBI, which had unearthed two bodies and conducted forensic tests, is yet to track Patidar’s whereabouts though it suspects he is dead.

The CBI has announced a reward of R5 lakh to any person who would provide Patidar’s information.

Patidar was a tenant of absconding terror suspect Ramchandra Kalsangra alias Ramji, who is wanted for his alleged role in executing blasts including those in Samjhauta Express train in February 2007, Mecca Mosque in Hyderabad in 2007 and Malegaon in 2008.

The ATS team, of which the two officers were part of, mentioned Patidar as a suspect in the Indore police’s records while seeking permission to grill him, said the source.

However, the same team, allegedly recorded Patidar’s status as that of a witness in theirrecords at their headquarters once they reached Mumbai with him in a bid to skip the need to arrest and produce him before any city court, said the source.