Jaipur: A DIG-rank officer has been assigned the task to probe and fix responsibilities for lapses in Jaipur bomb blast investigation pointed out by Rajasthan high court.
A senior official said DIG (ATS) Anshuman Bhomia was asked to look into the case and a DIG of the agency will undertake the examination.
The high court on March 29 acquitted Mohammad Saif Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, Saifur Rahman, and Mohammad Salman who were on death row for the 2008 serial blasts. The court had come down heavily on the Rajasthan police and pointed out a “flawed and shoddy” investigation, “insufficient” understanding of the legal process and the prosecution’s failure to corroborate material presented as evidence during the trial.
Slamming the state police for the manner in which it went about probing the eight successive blasts that rocked Jaipur’s Walled City neighbourhood on May 13, 2008, the judges directed the DGP to review the process and initiate action against the cops who were part of the investigation. The court also asked the chief secretary to monitor the inquiry.
“The approach of the investigation agency was plagued by insufficient legal knowledge, lack of proper training and insufficient expertise of probe procedure,” the court said.
While many of the officers who probed the case at different stages have retired, the DIG’s findings will reveal how the probe went haywire. Rajasthan Police’s handling of evidence in this entire case came across as flimsy and inept as there were multiple contradictory pieces of evidence and fabrications which led to the trial court’s conviction of the accused falling flat in the high court.
For instance, the HC pointed at an important prosecution witness who had made the tall claim that he could identify whoever purchased bicycles from his shop in the last ten years. The HC noted that the witness seemed to be a “planted witness” and that his testimony was overreaching.
A senior official said DIG (ATS) Anshuman Bhomia was asked to look into the case and a DIG of the agency will undertake the examination.
The high court on March 29 acquitted Mohammad Saif Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, Saifur Rahman, and Mohammad Salman who were on death row for the 2008 serial blasts. The court had come down heavily on the Rajasthan police and pointed out a “flawed and shoddy” investigation, “insufficient” understanding of the legal process and the prosecution’s failure to corroborate material presented as evidence during the trial.
Slamming the state police for the manner in which it went about probing the eight successive blasts that rocked Jaipur’s Walled City neighbourhood on May 13, 2008, the judges directed the DGP to review the process and initiate action against the cops who were part of the investigation. The court also asked the chief secretary to monitor the inquiry.
“The approach of the investigation agency was plagued by insufficient legal knowledge, lack of proper training and insufficient expertise of probe procedure,” the court said.
While many of the officers who probed the case at different stages have retired, the DIG’s findings will reveal how the probe went haywire. Rajasthan Police’s handling of evidence in this entire case came across as flimsy and inept as there were multiple contradictory pieces of evidence and fabrications which led to the trial court’s conviction of the accused falling flat in the high court.
For instance, the HC pointed at an important prosecution witness who had made the tall claim that he could identify whoever purchased bicycles from his shop in the last ten years. The HC noted that the witness seemed to be a “planted witness” and that his testimony was overreaching.
