Indore: CID officials baffled over high court order

There is a sense of disappointment among CID officials in the wake of HC order directing CBI to probe the 'encounter' of Bansi Gurjar, as the CID's own probe in this case was nearly over.

There is sense of disappointment among the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials in the wake of high court's recent order directing the CBI to probe the 'encounter' of criminal Bansi Gurjar, as the CID's own investigation into the case was nearly over.

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Bansi has several cases of drug peddling and extortion registered against him in Rajashthan and Madhya Pradesh. One of the cases related to an attempted snatching of an under-trial from custody of the Rajasthan police in 2009.

"Why now, that too at a time when our probe is nearly complete and we have asked for the opinion of the legal department about charges that can be framed against those involved in incident, including Bansi and his family members?" said a CID officer, requesting anonymity.

The officer said even though the CID will hand over all its files in this regard, an enquiry by the CBI will only delay matters as they will have to start everything from scratch.

Sources said the CID was seeking permission to prosecute both Bansi for faking his death and of his family members for falsely identifying someone else's body as that of Bansi. The relatives had given affidavits during the magisterial inquiry which is being held against them.

Sources said the CID inquiry had more or less come to the conclusion that policemen involved in the 'encounter' were not involved in any conspiracy, but guilty of wrong identification. It remains to be been seen whether the CBI comes to the same conclusion.

Incidentally, though the CID has been probing the case for the last two years, the identity of the person who was killed in the encounter is yet to be established and whether he has any connection with Bansi is also not known. Bansi was 'killed' in a police encounter in the intervening night of November 7-8, 2009 while travelling in a motorcycle in Neemuch.