Ahmedabad, Jan 17: A PASA detainee has confessed to have hatched a conspiracy to kill Congress leader Kalubhai Fakirbhai Patel, who was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in Daman on January 6, official sources today said. The accused Ramesh Patel, detained under Prevention of Anti Social Elements Act (PASA) and "known old time rival of the Congress leader from the union territory", has confessed to have hatched the conspiracy from Sabarmati Central Jail at Ahmedabad, additional inspector general of police Anita Roy said over telephone. "Ramesh Patel, however, was stubborn and refused to reveal the name of the two motorcycle borne 'hitmen' he had hired to eliminate the congressman," she said.
Patel, wanted in several criminal offences, was arrested under PASA from Rajkot in September last. Kalubhai Patel was shot dead by the two gunmen in broad daylight on January 6 outside Jalaram Temple.
Roy said, "We had suspected Ramesh Patel's involvement in the shoot-out from the start but managed to get a confession that he was the mastermind behind the shootout only recently."
The PASA detainee has not yet revealed the modus operandi of hatching the conspiracy and how he managed to hire the two gunmen while being in a central jail, she said.
He has been further booked under sections 120 (b) and 302 of the IPC.
Declining to reveal more information, Roy said that police are hot on the trail of the two absconding gunmen.
Bureau Report