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CBI to charge 2 ATS officers for abducting witness
After conducting a probe for close to 20 months, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has concluded that Dilip Patidar, a witness in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, who has disappeared mysteriously, was in the illegal custody of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
After conducting a probe for close to 20 months, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has concluded that Dilip Patidar, a witness in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, who has disappeared mysteriously, was in the illegal custody of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
“The CBI got an unidentified body exhumed from Thane suspecting that it might be Patidar’s. But the DNA test revealed it was not his. We checked almost all unidentified bodies found in Mumbai and the adjoining areas, but he could not be traced,” said a CBI official.
CBI officials said the agency has decided to file a charge sheet against two ATS inspectors for abduction and illegal detention and will write to the state home department for permission for the same.
Patidar was picked up by the ATS on November 10, 2008, from his home in Indore, which he had rented from the brother of Ramchandra Kalasnagra, an absconding right-wing activist suspected to have planted the bomb in Malegaon.
“ATS officials searched his house on October 24, 2008, and Patidar signed ATS’ seizure memo,” the official said. “Patidar was picked up on November 10 and taken to Mumbai. From November 10 to 20, the ATS allowed him to make one call a day to relatives.
It claims Patidar was allowed to return to Indore on November 21, but he never got there.” His mobile records show he made one call every day between November 10 and 20 and for the rest of the time the phone was switched off, said officials.
CBI officials don’t believe the ATS’ claim that Patidar was allowed to go back to Indore. “Two other witnesses in the case picked up from Indore in the same period returned safely after they tendered their statement. So why was only Patidar allowed to return to Indore alone?” said the official.
ATS chief Rakesh Maria is currently abroad and could not be reached for comment.
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