HYDERABAD: In a clear rebuke to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that has been pressing for transfer of the Dilsukhnagar twin blasts case to it, the Hyderabad police on Friday transferred the case to its own Special Investigation Team (SIT). Headed by additional CP, crimes, of Hyderabad police, Sandeep Shandillya, SIT comprises six teams who have been informally probing the blasts till now.The question of who will probe the twin blasts is turning out to be a prestige issue, with the NIA trying to take over the probe ever since the blasts rocked the city on February 21. Frustrated at not being handed over the case, NIA officials had sought the intervention of the Union home ministry and New Delhi had dropped hints to chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on the issue.
"However, director general of police Dinesh Reddy has made it clear that AP's police teams will conduct all investigations at Dilsukhnagar and inside the state, and that the NIA can pursue the leads elsewhere in the country," sources said. But within the state, jurisdictional confusion continue between the various police departments.
Meanwhile, NIA IG A Ravishankar told the media here on Friday that they had written to the Centre seeking the transfer of the case to them and added that they are awaiting a reply.
The case that was transferred on Friday pertains to the first blast that happened near Venkatadri theatre. The case was registered by Malakpet police and the same was handed over to the SIT on Friday. However, the Cyberabad police still continues to probe the second blast that happened near Konark theatre. The Saroonagar police had registered a case and the investigations are still being carried out by them.
In another anomaly between the two investigations being carried out by the two police teams, the Cyberabad cops had invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to probe the case while their Hyderabad counterparts did not do so. "As a result, the case in Cyberabad case is being handled by an officer of the ACP rank while in Hyderabad, it is being probed by an officer of the inspector rank," said the sources. However, the police sources asserted that the presence of two teams within the state police is not hampering the investigations. "The probe into all aspects of the Dilsukhnagar twin blasts are being coordinated at a very senior level. The NIA is breathing down our neck and our objective is to gather vital leads into the blasts and crack the case at the earliest," said the sources. Meanwhile, Dinesh Reddy on Friday visited the AP State Forensic Science Laboratory where samples from the twin blasts sites are being preserved.
Hyderabad cops want to keep blast probe to themselves
This article
Hyderabad cops want to keep blast probe to themselves
can be opened in url
http://newsobtain.blogspot.com/2013/03/hyderabad-cops-want-to-keep-blast-probe.html
Hyderabad cops want to keep blast probe to themselves
