Andhra Pradesh cop says he has told Centre that he can’t join probe as he had a major surgery recently.
The investigation of the Ishrat Jahan encounter case has suffered another setback as Andhra Pradesh IPS officer JV Ramudu has expressed his reluctance to head the probe just one day after he was appointed the new chairman of the Special Investigation Team (SIT). His unwilling may force the Gujarat high court, which had set up the SIT to investigate the Ishrat encounter, to handover the case to the central bureau of investigation (CBI).
On Friday, the high court had cleared the name of Ramudu, who is additional director general of police (ADGP) in Andhra Pradesh, for appointment as chairman of the Ishrat SIT.
But Ramudu, a 1981-batch IPS officer, has refused to take charge on the ground of health, saying that he had undergone a major surgery recently in Bangalore. When contacted by DNA, Ramudu said: "I'm not aware how my name was suggested for the probe. If you ask me about my willingness, I will say no.''
He further said that he cannot take charge as head of the investigation team owing to health problems. "And I have already communicated this to the central government," Ramudu told DNA.
Incidentally, assistant solicitor general PS Champaneri had told the court on Friday that the Centre had taken the consent of the respective state governments regarding Ramudu and Rajesh Ranjan. Ranjan is an IPS officer of Bihar cadre whose name had also been suggested for the probe. The court had made it clear that it did not want any further complications regarding officers suggested by the central government and, if it happened again, it would take a serious view of the matter.
The first chairman of the Ishrat SIT, Karnal Singh, had expressed his inability to continue as head of the probe team as he had been transferred to Mizoram from Delhi. The court had then appointed Maharashtra cadre IPS officer Satyapal Singh but he too refused to take charge. Interestingly, Ramudu's name was suggested by the central government even when Singh was appointed chairman a month back.
Meanwhile, Gopinath Pillai, father of Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh who was also killed in the encounter, has already demanded handover of the case to the CBI. During the hearing in the high court on Friday, he submitted a petition stating that witnesses of the case were retracting their statements as the SIT had delivered no results even after seven month of its formation. For this reason, he had demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI.
The latest development of Ramadu refusing to take charge as head the probe team, can lead to the case being handed over to the CBI.
Recently, Justice MR Shah of the Gujarat high court entrusted the investigation of Sadik Jamal encounter case to the CBI which is already investigating two other encounters cases. In both Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case and the Tulsi Prajapati case, the central probe agency has come to the conclusion that the two encounters were fake. Meanwhile, Mukul Sinha, counsel for Gopinath Pillai, said: "If it is true that Ramudu has refused to head the probe team, it is a very serious matter. The UPA government has made a complete mockery of the case. We will demand from the high court strict action against the central government officers who are responsible for this situation."
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