Maharashtra govt open to reinvestigation in Justice Loya death case: Home minister Anil Deshmukh
Mumbai, Jan 9: Maharashtra government is open to reinvestigating the death of special CBI judge B H Loya in 2014, state home minister Anil Deshmukh said here on Thursday.
Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case of Gujarat, died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.
"Our government is open to reinvestigating the Loya death case. Some people are meeting me today to demand that the case be reopened. I will hear them out and if necessary, the case will be reinvestigated," Deshmukh told reporters.
Asked if Loya's family members were meeting him, the minister said, "I don't want to disclose that."
Meanwhile, Deshmukh praised the police officers who were part of the operation to nab fugitive gangster Ejaz Lakdawala from Patna on Wednesday night.
He said the gangster's daughter Shifa Shaikh had put 'Manish Advani' as her father's name in her passport.
"She was arrested in the fake passport case and Lakdawala was nabbed after the police came to know of his whereabouts. The police are investigating who is Manish Advani," he said.
Asked if the police officers who nabbed Lakdawala will be rewarded, he said, "They have gone a good job and a decision on rewarding them will be taken."
Lakdawala, who was earlier an associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and gangsters Chhota Shakeel and Chhota Rajan, was operating on his own since 2008-09, Deshmukh said.
"He has 26 extortion cases, four cases under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and 80 other complaints against him," the minister said.
On BJP's criticism that police were under political pressure to withdraw cases against those who protested the JNU violence at Gateway of India here, Deshmukh said the police were probing from where Mumbai resident Mehek Prabhu got the placard with the message "Free Kashmir", and what were her intentions behind displaying it.
"She has given her side of the story and after investigations are completed, a decision on the FIR will be taken," he said.
Deshmukh also said that he has sought a report on the status of probe into the Koregaon Bhima violence on January 1, 2018.
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Kulkarni became victim of BJP conspiracy as he grew politically in North Karnataka: Shivakumar
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Bengaluru (PTI): Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar claimed on Friday that Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case, has become a victim of a BJP conspiracy because he was growing politically in the north Karnataka region.
Stating that he has faith in Kulkarni and believes he has done nothing wrong, he said the former minister will fight the case legally by filing an appeal.
A Bengaluru court on Friday sentenced Kulkarni and fifteen others to life imprisonment in the BJP leader Yogeshgouda Goudar murder case.
On Wednesday, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, Judge of the Special Court for cases involving elected representatives, convicted Kulkarni and others under various IPC sections, including criminal conspiracy and murder.
“I respect the court. But there was a big conspiracy in this case. When the police were about to file a B-report, the CBI was given the case to harass him (Kulkarni). Vinay Kulkarni has become a victim of a BJP conspiracy as he was growing politically in north Karnataka,” Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, he said Kulkarni has several legal options.
“I have spoken to his family. He swore on God and told me that he had not done anything wrong. I still have faith in him. I feel that he has not done anything wrong. He has an opportunity to file an appeal,” he said, adding that he stands with Kulkarni’s family and supporters and believes he will get justice.
The case pertains to the killing of Goudar, a BJP zilla panchayat member, in Dharwad on June 15, 2016. Kulkarni was a minister at the time. Hired assailants allegedly attacked and hacked Goudar to death in his gym in Saptapur, Dharwad.
Following demands from Goudar’s family and others, the then-BJP government transferred the case to the CBI in 2019.
Veteran BJP leader and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, under whose tenure the case was handed over to the CBI, told reporters in Chikkamagaluru, “I said what I needed to say when the crime happened, and what I said—that the guilty should be punished and justice should be served—has proven true.”
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, BJP leader and MLC C T Ravi, reacting to the court order, said, “Justice delayed, but not denied.”
