ATS mum on chargesheet that belies its probe

Even as Rajendra alias Rajan Ghule investigates murders and kidnappings as an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Dindoshi division, his own past has over the years been smartly hidden.

In 2014, Mr Ghule was charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for illegally detaining, kidnapping and planting false evidence in the case of Dilip Patidar, a witness in the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) investigation of the 2008 Malegaon blast. Mr Ghule was then the inspector of the Thane unit of the ATS and was accompanied by assistant sub-inspector Ramesh More of the same unit.

While the CBI charged them and submitted a report to the state government, they were allegedly refused sanction by the state to prosecute the two officers, forcing the CBI to file a closure report.

Police sources in the Dindoshi police station confirmed that ACP Ghule had been posted there after a stint with ATS and the Thane police.

On November 10, 2008, Mr Ghule and Mr More had come in contact with Patidar when they were investigating the role of Ramchandra Kalsangra, an alleged RSS worker, in the blasts. While Kalsangra was missing (and still is) the officers picked up Patidar who was a tenant of Kalsangra. He was allegedly brought to Mumbai and, according to statements of his family members, forced to become a witness in the blast case. However, the family had no clue about the same and were later informed by the local police station that the ATS had taken Patidar to Mumbai.

As part of its reply, the ATS had said that Patidar had been sent home on November 18, 2008 to collect a personal identification document. Patidar has been missing since then.

When contacted, Mr Ghule refused to comment. When this paper asked him if he had anything to say about the NIA chargesheet submitted on Friday, which put the ATS investigation of the Malegaon blasts in the dock, he said, “I cannot comment about any such cases or developments.”

However, it was not only Mr Ghule, ATS officials who had formed the initial 15-member team that investigated the blast were all mum on the issue.

Earlier, when the NIA investigation had revealed that the ATS investigation had been flawed, K.P. Raghuvanshi, the then ATS chief publicly stated, “ATS stands by its findings.”

However, on Saturday, Mr Raghuvanshi was unavailable for comment.

The NIA also submitted its supplementary chargesheet clearly stating that fresh questioning of witnesses had revealed that they had either not been present at the spot as claimed by the ATS or their statements had been recorded under duress or coerced out of them.

Despite repeated attempts, Parambir Singh who is the current commissioner of police, Thane, refused to comment on the issue. He was part of the initial 15-members team led by the late Hemant Karkare.