Mecca Masjid case: CBI upset with MP police

Almost three-year-old murder case of an RSS activist Sunil Joshi in Madhya Pradesh has caught the attention of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as part of its investigations in to Mecca Masjid blast case.

The CBI, which has already added Sunil's name to the list of the accused in the case, was trying to fret out more information from another suspected militant Devender Gupta, who was in the agency's custody for the last three days.

CBI sources said Sunil Joshi's murder was not dealt with seriously by the Madhya Pradesh police and their approach was so casual that they did not bother even to get a photograph of his body taken.

Sunil Joshi, who was also a friend and colleague of Abhinav Bharat activist Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, was shot dead by three unknown assailants on December 29, 2007. He was shot once in the head and twice in the heart killing him on the spot.

The CBI stumbled upon some new facts like some people entering Joshi's house after his murder and taking away all his belongings include three mobile phones.

Sources said all the evidences were wiped out from his residence and only one of the three mobiles was recovered later. CBI sources complained that the Madhya Pradesh police in fact tried to suppress the murder case.

CBI has also another grouse against the Madhya Pradesh police that it was not cooperating with the agency in locating and nabbing two other prime accused of Mecca Masjid blast – Sandeep Dange alias Pramanand and Ramachandra Kalsangra alias Ramji alias Vishnu Patel, both hailing from Indore.

CBI, which has already announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh on the head of the each of the two absconders, thinks that they were hiding in Indore, but the Madhya Pradesh police was not helping them in the arrest.

Sources said that Ramji was last seen in Indore a few weeks back and Sandeep Dange was spotted at RSS office in Haridwar and later he also moved to Indore. CBI has identified both of them as RSS members.

During his questioning by CBI, Devender Gupta has thrown light on the nature of relationship between Pragya Thakur and Sunil Joshi. Gupta said that Pragya was very much serious and committed to pursue her goals.