The Hindu : Former CBI Director to publish book on Rajiv assassination

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 13, 2004

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Former CBI Director to publish book on Rajiv assassination

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, MARCH 12. The former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, D.R. Karthikeyan, will soon publish a book on Rajiv Gandhi's assassination.

The 270-page book titled "Triumph of Truth," containing the start-to-finish of the assassination conspiracy and its aftermath in a capsule form, will be released simultaneously in India, the United Kingdom and the United States next month.

"It will basically focus on what happened on May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur, besides elaborating how and why the murder of the former Prime Minister was plotted. Apart from presenting the entire truth in a nutshell, an insight into the organisation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its intricacies has been made," Mr. Karthikeyan told The Hindu here. As chief of the Special Investigation Team, which zeroed in on the Rajiv assassins within three months, Mr. Karthikeyan said the book would serve as a record of what actually happened. "It was a massive investigation involving examination of thousands of witnesses and material evidence. Though I never had an idea to document it, sustained pressure from friends, particularly jurists and journalists, forced me to think of `Triumph of Truth.' "

Mr. Karthikeyan said he waited for 10 years for more facts to come out, but nothing did.

"The Rajiv case is unlike the Mahatma Gandhi or Indira Gandhi assassinations where the accused were caught red-handed. We started clueless and pursued, what can be said, the most transparent investigation in any sensational case in the world."

Mr. Karthikeyan said it was a difficult period for him personally. "I had many ill-informed people assisting me in the investigation while many politicians tried to politicise the assassination. However, it was a major achievement and a professionally satisfying work at the end," he said.

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