J P YADAV
11 DECEMBER 2006, INDIAN EXPRESS, NEW DELHI.
Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, while sidelining the demand for a CBI probe into the murder of noted Professor of History Dr Papia Ghosh and her maid, today opined that the CBI does not have the expertise to solve murder cases.
Talking to Reporters in his chamber in the State Assembly, Kumar stressed it was the duty of the State Police to probe the murder. “CBI does not have expertise in murder cases. It is mainly for corruption cases. This is the job of the State Police and it is doing it,” he pointed out. He felt the Opposition was raising a hue and cry over it since they did not have any issue against his Government.
The fact is that the Police are clueless even a week after the Professor and her maid were stabbed to death in their posh Patliputra Colony house. They have not been able to arrest anyone in the matter nor have they recovered the Professor’s car said to have be taken away by the killers. “There is not an angle which we have not examined. But so far there are no leads,” said a top Police officer.
The killing of Dr Ghosh—a noted researcher of Modern History—has generated sharp reaction among the state’s intellectual and academic fraternity, who are demanding a probe by the CBI. Teachers of the Patna University, where Dr Ghosh used to teach, too, want the CBI to be roped in. They have even declared a strike on December 14 to press their demand.
Today, the Opposition joined in and did not allow the Assembly to function, raising the murder and other issues pertaining to law and order. Dr Ghosh’s IAS officer sister, Tuktuk Ghosh, has reportedly taken up the matter with Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. It is learnt that the PM has spoken to Kumar in this regard.
However, the CM’s reluctance to hand over the probe to CBI is contrary to what he had done in after the theft of priceless statues from Patna Museum. The Investigating Agency had cracked the case within days of being handed over the probe.