The leader of Opposition in the legislative council, Vinod Tawde, on Wednesday raised serious questions about the investigations in the 26/11 terror attack and the J. Dey murder case.
He said that though the government was in denial mode on the Indian links in the terror attacks, Abu Jundal’s arrest is slowly exposing the truth. He also alleged that Dey was killed because he had collected vital information about match fixing in the IPL and that jouranlist Jigna Vora was being wrongly implicated in the case.
“Home minister R.R. Patil had told this House that there were no local connections in the 26/11 terror attack. In fact, former Mumbai police commissioner late Hasan Gafo-or, who had claimed that some local people had helped the terrorists, was forced to withdraw his statement. Now, with the arrest of Jundal, the truth about 26/11 terror strike has come out,” Mr Tawde said, during a debate in the legislative council.
Further, claiming that terrorist organisations had spread their network in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha and Marathwada regions, Mr Tawde urged the home minister to direct an investigation into this aspect.
Speaking about the murder case of senior crime reporter Dey, the Opposition leader alleged that the journalist was killed because he had collected information about match-fixing in cricket matches.
“Dey was killed because he was going to expose match-fixing. After his murder, journalists were agitated and they took out a morcha to the Mantralaya. After that, female journalist Vora was implicated for his murder on flimsy grounds. The police has not been able to produce any concrete evidence against her so far. It was an indirect attempt to gag the media and stop their agitations,” Mr Tawde said.
In his reply, Mr Patil assured that the state would conduct an inquiry into Jundal’s involvement in the 26/11 case. In Dey’s case, he claimed that the matter is subjudice, so, it should not be debated on the floor of the House.