HC raps CID for improper probe into journalist murder

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati high court hammered the CID for running a lackadaisical investigation into the murder case of journalist Anil Mazumdar, who was killed by unidentified gunmen in 2009 in front of his house here. The court also slammed the state government for not doing the investigation properly and said it suspected a high-level conspiracy in the killing.Mazumdar, the editor of a vernacular daily in the city, was killed by unknown gunmen on March 24, 2009. He was shot from a close range. The state government had immediately referred the case to CID for investigation. But no one was ever arrested in the case.The high court had then asked the state government to hand over the investigation to the CBI under the Special Police Act within 15 days. The order came after Mallika Kalita, Mazumdar's widow, filed a petition on November 23 in the high court saying that she had lost confidence in the CID investigation."It was found that a very important lead in the investigation has not been pursued by the CID at all for some undisclosed reason. The investigation agency did not manage to book the culprits and it appears that the trail has gone cold. It was also found that the CID virtually wrapped up the investigation after the murder of one of the suspects, which appears to be a strange way of drawing a curtain on the probe," said the high court order.Bijoy Phukan, a Sulfa and the prime suspect in the case, was found dead in Nalbari district a fortnight after the journalist's murder. Bijoy was abducted and killed by unidentified assailants in 2009 when he was out on bail.The high court order also blamed the state government for its careless approach in the murder case. "The court further found that the government of Assam is reluctant to carry out an effective investigation in the murder of the journalist. Apart from this, the order also indicated the involvement of high profile people in the killing plot," said Nekibur Zaman, counsel of Mallika Kalita."From the report, it transpires that a vital lead has not been pursued by the CID. Another angle that surfaced is involvement of some high profile people," said the court order of justice S Talapatra.