Jethava case: Investigator seeks nod for narco test

TimesOfIndia 23 Dec,2011

AHMEDABAD: Superintendent of police Surendranagar, Raghavendra Vatsa, who is probing the RTI activist Amit Jethava murder case, has sought permission to conduct narco analysis on six arrested accused. Vatsa has filed an application in the sessions court in this connection.

Vatsa said that the test is necessary to ascertain whether the member of parliament, Dinu Solanki, is connected to the murder case. The slain activist's father Bhikha Jethava had accused Solanki of masterminding his son's murder.

Amit was shot on July 20, 2010, at 8.30 pm outside the Gujarat high court by two persons. A complaint was later lodged with the Sola police. Investigation in the case was later handed over to crime branch and six persons were arrested including two shooters. Solanki's nephew Shiva Solanki was also among those arrested.

Not convinced by the police investigation, Bhikha moved the Gujarat high court, alleging that Ahmedabad crime branch was trying to shield the MP. On November 12, HC handed over the probe to Surendranagar SP. Vatsa had sought police remand for all the six accused on December 7. However, the remand application was rejected. Vatsa then questioned the accused inside the Sabarmati Central Jail.

After this session, Vatsa told the court that the accused were hiding more than they were ready to reveal. To unearth the truth, he felt, that the accused should be subjected to forensic interrogation through narco and lie-detection tests.

Vatsa cited six reasons for conducting the narco test. He told the court that he had grilled all the accused between December 12 and 14. "When I asked them about Solanki, all the accused gave unsatisfactory replies and seemed to be hiding much," he said . Two other accused - Bahadur Vader and Sailesh Pandya - were questioned about the weapon used to shoot Amit. Vatsa told the court that both gave contradictory statements.

In a similar manner, when an accused Pachan Desai was asked about the car used in the murder, he too gave contradictory statement about the ownership of the vehicle.

Now, Surendranagar SP to probe Jethava murder

TimesOfIndia 13 Nov, 2011

AHMEDABAD: Investigation in the murder of RTI activist Amit Jethava has been transferred from the city crime branch to Surendranagar SP Raghavendra Vats after the Gujarat high court ordered a further probe, sources said.

Jethava was shot dead in front of the high court premises on July 20 last year.

On October 19, HC directed further investigation in this case by a Class I officer of the IPS rank under the supervision of the special commissioner, crime branch or an officer of rank of additional DGP. Instead of handing over the probe to a higher probe agency like CID (crime), the state government chose to shift it to the district police, which lacks resources for detection of the offence in comparison with the crime branch, sources said.

However, special commissioner Mohan Jha will continue to supervise the investigation.

Interestingly, HC has granted time till November 28 to complete the further probe. However, it took nearly 20 days for the government to transfer the probe. Surendranagar SP only has 16 days to complete the task now.

HC ordered further investigation after Jethava's father Bhikhalal alleged that the probe agency was shielding Junagadh BJP MP Dinu Bogha Solanki and not probing beyond the role of his nephew Shiva. This despite the fact that Jethava had made specific accusations against him in his PIL against illegal mining in the Gir Sanctuary.

The crime branch recorded Solanki's statement only after HC began questioning the probe. A bench headed by justice D H Waghela even asked the crime branch whether recording Solanki's statement was adequate from the angle of probing his involvement in the case.

NDTV Indian of the year 2011

NDTV 18 October  2011

New Delhi:  NDTV gave out the Indian of the Year Awards 2011 in New Delhi today. This award honours individuals who helped build brand India through their outstanding contributions.

The winners this year are:      
 1. Indian of the Year - Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal  
2. India's Heroes - Team India, World Champions  
3. Entertainer of the Year - Team Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara  (Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Farhan Akhtar, Kalki Koechlin, Abhay Deol, Ritesh Sidhwani and Zoya Akhtar)  
4. Entertainer of the Year (Music) - Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy  
5. Lifetime Achievement Award - Dev Anand & Rahul Dravid  
6. LIC Unsung Hero of the Year - RTI activists Amit Jethwa, Dattatreya Patil, Vishram Dodiya, Satish Shetty and Vitthal Gite  
7. Transformational Idea of the Year Award - Nandan Nilekani
 8. Icon of India - N R Narayana Murthy

‘Probe Amit Jethwa murder further'

The Hindu 20/10/2011

Crime Branch probe beset by high political links, claimed Jethwa's father

A Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday ordered further investigation into the murder of RTI activist Amit Jethwa, based on a complaint by his father, Bhikhabhai Jethwa, alleging that the Crime Branch was not probing the case properly because of high political links.

The Bench ordered that the probe be supervised by an IPS officer of the rank of Additional Director-General and asked the police to submit the report by November 28 and scheduled the next hearing for November 29.

Amit Jethwa, who was also an environmentalist, was killed on July 20 last year, right in front of the Gujarat High Court by two motorcycle-borne assailants. The police arrested six persons, including Sailesh Pandya, who, they claimed, had actually pulled the trigger, but did not find any link with BJP MP from Junagadh Dinu Solanki, believed to be connected with alleged mining mafias in the area.

The senior Jethwa, in his petition, had claimed that both he and Amit had received several threats from Mr. Solanki because his son was “exposing” the mining mafias through his RTI queries.

Probe deeper in Jethava murder case: HC to cops

TimesOfIndia 20/10/2011


AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Wednesday asked the city police to conduct further investigation in the murder of RTI activist Amit Jethava.
The high court has decided to monitor this case again. It directed that the probe be carried out under direct supervision of two senior police officials - ADGP of CID (crime) and special commissioner of city crime branch. A bench constituting Justice D H Waghela and Justice J C Upadhyay also directed that the further probe will be conducted by an IPS officer.
Jethava's father Bhikhalal has sought CBI inquiry into the murder on the ground that the investigating agency was shielding BJP MP from Junagadh Dinu Bogha Solanki.
Jethava was shot dead on July 20 last year in front of HC campus, a few days after he filed a PIL demanding court directions to curb illegal mining activities in prohibited Gir sanctuary. He had accused the BJP MP in his petition. The high court monitored the probe for some time but stopped after the petition was disposed.
Six persons including Solanki's nephew, Shiva, were arrested for the murder. After the arrest and filing of two chargesheets, the city crime branch did not move ahead in its probe. This led Jethava's father to move HC with a complaint that police were shielding the Junagadh MP.
When the high court inquired about status of the investigation and particularly what efforts were made to determine Solanki's involvement in the case, the state government could not put forth satisfactory reasons for not investigating alleged role of the parliamentarian.
On HC query, the state government admitted that Solanki's call details were also not fully scrutinized. The crime branch recorded Solanki's statement after Jethava's father moved the high court. However, the judges were not convinced with the efforts and observed that mere recording a statement does not mean investigation.
Finally, the judges asked the investigating agency to complete further probe as per provision of section 173
(8) of CrPC
and place the report before the court by November 28. The court has kept further hearing the next day with observation that final order on the petition demanding CBI probe would be passed after submission of investigation report.