The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Tuesday, registered a murder case against unknown persons in connection with the killing of RTI activist Amit Jethava in 2010 outside the Gujarat high court.
A team of CBI will soon reach Ahmedabad for further probe after the agency filed the cases at its Delhi office. The probe was necessitated after the Gujarat high court, on September 25, handed over the investigation in Jethava’s killing to the agency after it found the probe conducted by the state police far from being satisfactory.
The high court had also slammed the state police for its shoddy investigations in the case, in which BJP’s MP from Junagadh, Dinu Bogha Solanki remains a prime suspect.
Though the police arrested Solanki’s nephew Shiva Solanki for allegedly carrying out the killing, the MP was given a clean chit by the cops.
Bhikabhai Jethwa, father of Amit Jethava, had sought a CBI probe alleging that Dinu Solanki was behind the murder. In his plea before the HC, Bhikabhai alleged that state police had not properly probed the case and the state government was shielding Dinu Solanki.
The division bench of justices DH Vaghela and JC Upadhyay had observed that investigation in Jethava murder case was “far from fair, independent, bona fide or prompt”. The RTI and environment activist, Amit Jethava, had filed numerous RTI applications and a PIL against illegal mining in Gir forest region, was shot dead outside the Gujarat High Court on July 20, 2010.
The court, however, had asked the central agency to complete further investigation and file the report, preferably within six months. Police had arrested six persons including Shiva and sharp shooter Sailesh Pandya, who had shot at Jethava but it ruled out any involvement of Dinu Bogha Solanki in the murder.