A former Indian police officer, who was part of the special investigation team that probed the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has moved the Madras high court for a direction to the Centre and the CBI to consider his representation seeking the extradition and interrogation of ex-LTTE leader Kumaran Padmanabhan alias KP. 

 

The PIL, filed by J Mohanraj said KP was close to LTTE leaders and was the chief arms procurer for the banned organization. 

 

The first bench comprising acting Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan, before which the PIL of Mohanraj came up for hearing, issued notice to the union home ministry and the CBI. The matter has been adjourned to August 5 for further proceedings. 

 

In his petition, Mohanraj said there were several loose ends in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination investigation as well as trial, and said he had written to the Centre and the CBI requesting them to press for the extradition of KP and his interrogation. However, though KP was in the custody of Sri Lankan authorities since 2009 neither the CBI nor the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) which has been mandated to probe the conspiracy angle of the assassination had done anything to bring KP to India, he said. 

 

Quoting announcement by Sri Lanka as well as media reports from several parts of the world, Mohanraj said the island nation had dropped all charges against KP though it had acknowledge that KP was wanted in connection with the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Describing KP as a 'treasure trove of secrets', the PIL said if he is brought to India and questioned several cases including a Rs 1,336-crore Indian Bank scam case could be cracked. He, however, did not elaborate about the bank scam. 

 

He had written several letters and complaints to the Centre and the CBI, but no action has been taken on them so far, he said.(Times of India)