New Delhi: The controversial Sunil Joshi murder case, which was transferred to the NIA during the previous UPA regime claiming it was an important link to all Hindu right-wing terror cases, has been quietly shifted back to Madhya Pradesh after the Central agency said it found “no evidence of a terror angle’’ to it.
Mr Joshi, an RSS pracharak, had been chargesheeted by NIA in connection with Samjhauta Express train blast of 2007, was considered an important link to alleged acts of Hindu right-wing terror. The NIA suspected Joshi had a role in Samjhauta Express blasts, besides explosions at Malegaon, Ajmer Dargah and Mecca Masjid (Hyderabad), and insisted that the case be handed over to it.
He was shot dead when he was reportedly returning to his hideout in Chuna Khadan locality in Dewas town of MP on December 29, 2007. During the UPA regime, the NIA had filed several applications before courts in Madhya Pradesh seeking directions to the state police to hand over the investigation to it.
The fresh NIA move to shift the case back to the state police has set off a political blamegame with Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh voicing surprise over NIA’s “change of view”.
Mr Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member said, the matter will be raised in Parliament and accused the Modi government of “sabotaging” cases related to Hindu right-wing terror. Mr Singh said he stood vindicated on the Hindu right’s involvement in terror activities when the special public prosecutor in Malegaon blasts case in 2008, Rohini Salian, alleged she was asked by an NIA officer to go slow in the matter.
An RSS spokesperson refused to comment on the Congress leader’s accusations.
