Pande, Mathur sabotaged fair probe in Sohrabuddin case: Rai

Rajnish Rai, who was in-charge of the fake encounter case between April 1, 2007 and August 22, 2007, wrote a letter, listing all allegations, to additional chief secretary Balwant Singh on May 21 last year, in which he objected to the 'average' grade in his Annual Confidential Report (ACR) for his performance as the in-charge.

The letter came into public domain today after it was submitted by Rai before a bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) where he had challenged his 'average' grading in ACR and sought that the remarks be expunged.

Rai was the one who had arrested three IPS officer including D G Vanzara in April 2007 with regard to the case. "The commencement of the investigation into the death of Sohrabuddin in a purported encounter with police was deliberately delayed by P C Pande. He did not wish the investigation to be conducted in a fair, impartial and prompt manner," Rai said in his letter to Singh.

The officer also stated that he refrained from mentioning more details as the matter was now under investigation by CBI. "I am ready to furnish all details which will unequivocally prove as to how the former DGP systematically and concertedly tried to compromise fair and impartial investigation of the case," he added.

"He(Pande) did not wish that senior police officers, who masterminded the execution of the crime by first abducting Sohrabuddin and his wife and then subsequently killing them, be arrested," Rai said in the letter.

He said that it was because of his 'disinclination' to 'oblige' to his seniors in the investigation of fake encounter case that adverse remarks like 'not keeping the superiors posted of progress in the investigation' and 'average' grading were recorded in his ACR by Pande who was the reviewing authority, Rai stated.

In regard to his immediate reporting authority O P Mathur, Rai said, "Mathur also did not desire a fair and impartial investigation and he had also committed several serious acts of commission and omission, which I refrain from mentioning here because case is under investigation by CBI."

Rai added that he was ready to furnish all relevant details which would prove how "Mathur systematically and concertedly tried to compromise fair and impartial investigation of this case." Therefore, Mathur had assessed his (Rai's) performance 'arbitrarily and without application of mind with 'malafide' intentions, alleged Rai.