The Commissioner of Police (CoP), Madurai City, has stoutly opposed a plea made before the Madras High Court Bench here to transfer the investigation into two explosions reported at Nelpettai here on November 20, 2013, and March 14 this year, from Vilakuthoon police here to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Filing a counter affidavit in reply to the writ petition filed by a lawyer A. Syed Abdul Kathar, CoP Sanjay Mathur denied allegations of the “police officers playing a vital role in planting bombs in the district” besides acting in a manner prejudicial to Muslim community. He said the charges levelled by the petitioner were defamatory in nature.
“Such allegations are being made only to divert the genuine and bold officers from performing their duty… No personal or hidden agenda exists in police investigation and no police including the sixth respondent (Vilakuthoon Police Inspector) is against the Muslim community. In fact, several police personnel investigating this matter are Muslims,” he said.
On the petitioner’s claim that the CoP himself had categorised one of explosions as mild in intensity, Mr. Mathur said: “As the highest officer of the police with respect to Madurai City, I am duty-bound to narrate the incidents to the public. But at the same time that should not create any panic situation in society… The finality of the (press) statement can be substantiated only after finalisation of investigation.”
When the case came up for hearing before Justice R. Subbiah on Thursday, the petitioner’s counsel, W. Peter Ramesh Kumar, claimed that he had evidence in a Compact Disc to prove allegations levelled against some police officers. The judge took the CoP’s counter affidavit on file and adjourned the hearing till April 10 for filing of counter affidavits by other respondents in the case.
