Extension sought for Rajiv Gandhi probe panel

The CBI has sent a fresh reminder to the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) for giving another term extension to the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA), the panel which is investigating the conspiracy angle in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

The unit was set up 17 years ago but is yet to wrap up its probe into the wider conspiracy angle in the assassination. Sources in the CBI said, “Since its inception as a dedicated unit probing the high-profile political assassination, it is for the first time that the term of the MDMA, which came to end on May 31, 2015, has still not been formally extended.” Sources said the application to the MHA was sent in time and the clarifications sought have also been furnished to the MHA. “The CBI has sent a fresh reminder to the MHA in this regard,” sources said. The panel, which was set up in 1998, comprises experts from the CBI and other Central agencies.

The MDMA, running on a skeleton staff, was set up on the recommendation of retired judge Milap Chand Jain, whose own inquiry into the conspiracy theory was called off in 1998.

Jain wanted the MDMA to look into several areas he could not investigate. “The MDMA has been conducting further investigation in RC 9 (S)/1991-SCB/MAS (Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case) after obtaining necessary permission from the designated TADA Court, Chennai under section 173 (B) of the CrPC”, sources said. The Former Prime Minister was assassinated on May 21, 1991, when a LTTE suicide bomber blew herself up at an election rally in Tamil Nadu.

Earlier, MDMA had sought permission from the Sri Lankan authorities to question the alleged financier of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Selvarasa Pathmanathan. “The MDMA is keen to know about the bank details of Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias ‘KP’ and some of his associates. The agency had written to the Sri Lankan authorities in this regard earlier but no positive response came from the authority concerned”, sources said. He had been arrested in a Southeast Asian country and was brought to Sri Lanka, they said.