Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday held a meeting with several senior police officers of the state, and later went on to meet Union home minister P. Chidambaram. Although the agenda of the meeting was not disclosed, sources have confirmed that the killing of alleged Indian Mujahideen operative Qateel Siddiqui in the Yerawada Central Jail was the main subject of discussion.
According to sources, the meeting was held at the Sahyadri Guesthouse in Malabar Hill, and several officers of the Maharashtra police, including the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) were in attendance. “Mr Chavan was briefed in detail about Siddiqui’s murder as well as the progress of investigations into the case so far. The CM then pondered upon further measures to be taken in connection with the case,” said a source.
Apart from the custodial death of Siddiqui, the CM was also briefed by the ATS on the progress of the Mumbai triple bomb blast case of July 13, 2011.
The CM also conducted a review of the measures taken by the state police in the Naxal-infested Gadchiroli and Chandrapur district, the official said.
Speaking about the progress in IM operative’s murder case, the official said that the investigation of the case was officially handed over to the state CID on Monday. As per protocol, any case of custodial death is investigated by an independent agency, and home minister R.R. Patil had already announced that the CID would investigate the killing.
Officials said that the CID received orders to take over the probe late on Sunday night.