17 years on, CBI still pursues Rajiv Gandhi case

Even after 17 years, the Central Bureau of Investigation has not left its pursuit to unravel the conspiracy behind the killing of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and recently an agency team was here seeking banking details of alleged Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam financier Kumaran Padmanathan.

Diplomatic sources in Berlin said CBI Director Vijay Shanker held talks with his German counterpart and Federal agency Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) chief Jorg Ziercke.

During the talks, they said, the CBI took up the matter of financial transactions of Sri Lankan national Padmanathan or 'KP', who is alleged to be a major gun-runner for the LTTE.

The talks were part of the bilateral exchanges between the two countries to pave the way for signing of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, besides being a return visit by the CBI Director in response to an invitation extended by his German counterpart when he had visited India last year.

The Indian delegation stressed on execution of Letters Rogatory (LRs) which were pending with the German authorities for long. The LRs were issued by Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) to various countries, including Germany.

But the main impediment for the CBI was that several countries -- including Germany, Australia, Switzerland and the Netherlands -- demanded an undertaking that the death penalty would not be imposed or carried out against any such person whose details were sought in the Rajiv Gandhi case.

This demand was renewed by German authorities during the talks when the Indian side raised the issue of pending LRs issued by the Indian courts on request Of the MDMA, the sources said.

"Some breakthrough needs to be evolved as the conspiracy behind the case has to be unravelled completely," said an official, who was a part of the delegation that held talks with BKA.

The German side was willing to cooperate but there were differences over the issue the death penalty.

India wants to know the bank details of KP and some more people, including some Indians who were alleged to have hatched the conspiracy to kill Gandhi. The former prime minister was assassinated on May 21, 1991 when an LTTE suicide bomber blew herself up at an election rally in Tamil Nadu.

The MDMA, comprising officials from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Enforcement Directorate, has asked the government to use diplomatic channels to ensure help from different countries in locating the conspirators and their financial network. The panel was given an extension till May 31, 2009 recently.

Two commissions of inquiry were set up to probe Rajiv Gandhi's murder. While the Justice JS Verma Commission had probed the aspect of security lapses, the MC Jain Commission investigated the conspiracy aspect.

The Jain Commission had also recommended a further probe into several areas, like the role of controversial Godman Chandraswami and others, including some LTTE leaders, in the conspiracy.

The MDMA was set up primarily to tie up the loose-ends in the wake of the Jain Commission report.

KP is believed to be 'the chief arms procurer' for the LTTE and also in-charge of collection of finances for the banned outfit outside Sri Lanka.

During the meeting, India also raised the issue of banned Babbar Khalsa International, which was operating from the German soil but the Germans were quick to say that their territory would not be allowed to be used against India.

However, India's request for banning the group could not be agreed upon as the German side made it clear that their law prohibited black-listing of any group until it was found indulging in terror activities.