Antulay self-goal: sees a Malegaon mystery in Karkare Mumbai murder

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said these should be treated as Antulay’s “personal views” and the party did not agree with him.

Karkare was attacked by leaders of the BJP for his probe into the blast that killed six Muslims in Malegaon on September 29 — 11 suspected Hindu extremists are in jail in the case. Leader of the Opposition L K Advani had even called for a change in the investigation team.

The BJP attacked Antulay for his remarks and demanded an immediate clarification from the Prime Minister.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Antulay said: “Somebody who knew both the ends sent him (Karkare) in the wrong direction otherwise why should he have gone to Cama hospital? He should have gone to Taj, Oberoi or Nariman House. He went to such a place where there was nothing compared to what was happening in these three places. He went to the Cama hospital on the basis of a phone call. Who is that person who made the phone call? This should be probed.”

“Karkare found that there are non-Muslims involved in acts of terrorism… Any person going to the roots of terror has always been the target… Superficially speaking, they (the terrorists) had no reason to kill Karkare. Whether he (Karkare) was a victim of terrorism or terrorism plus something, I do not know,” he said.

“I can’t say who killed him,” Antulay said. “I leave it you. But you remember what all was said against the poor man. He was an upright officer. I know a bandh call was given against him before he was killed.”

He said the CBI should be asked to find out “who was responsible for sending him (Karkare) in the wrong direction… somebody wanted him to be killed… why all three (Karkare, Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar) went together is beyond my comprehension.”

Under fire from the BJP and Shiv Sena in Lok Sabha, Antulay later said he had not talked about who killed Karkare but only about “who sent him in the direction” of Cama hospital.

He told The Indian Express that his questions regarding Karkare’s death had “nothing to do with the veracity of the reports and the investigation of the Mumbai terror attacks which have made it clear that the terrorists had come from Pakistan. There is no issue on that, that has been clearly established. Anybody interpreting my questions in any other way is doing so out of context.”

On the amendments in the law to tackle terror, Antulay said that it would be better if the same stringency is “exercised against major cases of rioting… communalism and terror are twin brother/sister, and if the Act covers Naxalism which is a form of extremist violence, there is no reason not to think that it should also be applicable to all forms of extremist violence which includes major communal incidents.”

“Any law can be misused. I cannot rule out the possibility of this law also being misused. What I am saying is that suppose if it is made applicable to cases of communal riots also, then everybody will keep quiet,” he said.