Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked
the Mumbai Police Commissioner to file a reply on two
petitions which alleged that a conspiracy hatched by Hindu
extremists led to the death of ATS chief Hemant Karkare during
the 26/11 terror attacks.
One of the petition, filed by former Bihar MLA Radhakant
Yadav, contends that Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail -- the two
Pakistani terrorists -- are not responsible for the killing of
Karkare in an ambush near Cama hospital, but Abhinav Bharat is
behind the death because it wanted to "get rid of Karkare",
who was zeroing in on the Hindu right-wing organisation in
2008 Malegaon blast case.
Yadav's petition seeks a Special Investigation Team (SIT)
probe into this angle.
The petition refers to the book written by former
Inspector General of Police S M Mushrif, titled 'Who Killed
Karkare', which puts forth a similar conspiracy-theory.
Another petition, filed by Jyoti Bedekar, makes similar
allegations.
Additional Solicitor General Darius Khambata, representing
the Union Government, said today that Mushrif's book is mostly
"inferential" and does not speak much about facts.
The division bench of Justice B H Marlapalle and Justice U
D Salvi, however, said that such theories had been put out by
many people and "some responsible officer from police
department must file a reply".
Public Prosecutor P A Pol then said that Police
Commissioner will file a reply by November 29, the next date
of the hearing.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 22:10