The Hindu
Mangalore, Apr 15: Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police A.S. Rao said there was no need for an outside agency to investigate the murder of human rights lawyer Naushad Kashimji.
The Mangalore Bar Association had demanded a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the case, alleging negligence on the part of the police in the investigation.
Mr. Kashimji’s senior lawyer, Purushotham Poojary, who had lodged a complaint with Dr. Rao alleging involvement of four top police officials, also demanded a CBI probe.
Dr. Rao told presspersons on Tuesday that investigations were progressing well and he saw no need to hand over the case to the CBI. What had given rise to suspicion was that policemen themselves were investigating into allegations of involvement of top police officials in the crime, he said.
He added that the allegation was serious and was being looked into.
He would not reveal how that was being done but said that Mr. Poojary had only suggested that the police had a motive to murder Mr. Kashimji and that did not constitute proof.
He denied that there was any negligence on the part of the police in the investigation. Dr. Rao said the post-mortem and inquest of the body had been videographed and the services of ballistic experts from Bangalore were used. The post-mortem report was awaited, he said.
He said the first information report (FIR) was filed based on eyewitness accounts and there could not be a second FIR based on Mr. Poojary’s complaint. However, the police had included the information given by him in the scope of the investigation.
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