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Central agency may probe Rajasthan blasts

Special Correspondent

“State investigating agencies unable to find any useful leads”

“State alone cannot handle such an enormous situation”
No request made to the Centre so far: Minister

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Government appears to hand over the probe into the May 13 serial bomb blasts in Jaipur to any Central agency.

More than 80 days after the terror strikes which claimed 63 lives within the Walled City area of Jaipur, the investigating agencies in the State, including the Special Investigation Team set up to probe the blasts, are bereft of any useful leads, not to speak of any breakthrough.

“The State alone cannot handle such an enormous situation in which national and international terror groups are possibly involved,” said Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria talking to The Hindu on phone from Udaipur on Saturday.

“The State and the Centre should join hands to carry forward the investigations. In fact, the Centre and all the affected States should come together to evolve a mechanism to investigate terror attacks and to fight terror,” he said.

However, contrary to reports appearing in a section of the media here, Mr. Kataria said the State had not made any request so far to the Centre on the Central Bureau of Investigation taking over the blast probe. “We have not sent any communication to the Centre in this regard. However, our view is that the investigations are beyond the domain of the State,” Mr. Kataria said.

“The genesis of the trouble lies elsewhere. Then they (the terrorists) keep moving from one place to other. They are in Bhopal today and in Ahmedabad tomorrow. How can State Government alone carry out an effective probe into their activities,” Mr. Kataria observed. “The CBI has a greater reach. They have a well established mechanism and intelligence network to do a better job,” he said.

Only two days ago, during a high-level review meeting here on the security and law and order situation in this border State, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had announced a reward of Rs.10 lakh to anyone who gives any valuable clue into the blasts.

The Home Minister too did not make any attempt to hide the fact that the probes into the Jaipur blasts as well as the blast at the mausoleum of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer on October 11 last year had not made any headway. “We are yet without any major findings….Not that we have not tried.”

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