Opinion

Bull's Eye

About Haren Pandya's murder this column said the murderers would be shot while trying to escape and a diary on them would prove that isi and Dawood had ...

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Bull's Eye
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The maulvi who masterminded the killing fled before Pandya's murder. The five arrested in Ahmedabad provided clues leading to the four arrested in Hyderabad. The four in Hyderabad, naturally, were trained in Pakistan. The alleged murderer, Asghar Ali, is the son of a retired policeman. Four days before his arrest, his family vanished.

An anonymous letter one month before Pandya's murder revealed that Dawood's men targeted eleven for killing, of which Pandya was one. Pandya, not a minister or MLA, became the top priority for ISI and Dawood because of the future threat he could pose. Why target Narendra Modi or others who exploited riots to win the election and already govern Gujarat?

The CBI director called on Union home minister L.K. Advani to discuss the case. It is not clear whether he met Advani to give information or to collect information. Remember, Advani arrived at the truth long before the CBI did.

Within hours of Pandya's murder, Advani had announced that Pakistan and Dawood were behind the murder. This was long before the police had caught and questioned either the two in Mumbai, or the five in Ahmedabad, or the four in Hyderabad, or even the eyewitness who provided a description of the killer on which the police based an identikit that helped catch the culprits. The eyewitness remembered the murderer's face. He did not remember to inform the police when the murder occurred. No wonder Haren Pandya's father remains dissatisfied. People wonder why the isi should require a contract killer.

Nevertheless, our police are outstanding. They rival the police in Stalinist Russia. Here's an unreported incident from Stalin's time: Alexis, in the secret police, met Boris on the street. "Boris, accept my condolences," Alexis said. "I am sorry to learn your uncle died in a car accident yesterday!" "But I met my uncle this morning," Boris said in astonishment.

Alexis slapped his forehead. "Of course, how silly of me! Your uncle will die in a car accident tomorrow!"

Mount the pulpit
And name the culprit,
Then probe the crime
To get proof in time!

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