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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
The Delhi police has rejected the demand by the Uttranchal police chief A K Saran that the investigations into the Phoolan Devi murder case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Dr K K Paul, joint commissioner of police in-charge of the crime branch which is investigating the high profile murder case, told rediff.com that he is not aware of any such demand.
"I have not seen the statement. I am not sure why he made this statement in the first place," Dr Paul said.
When asked if the Delhi police had been able to unravel the conspiracy behind the murder, Dr Paul said that the investigations were proceedings satisfactorily.
"We will make a detailed statement to the media once our investigations are completed," he said.
Saran, however, stuck to his earlier statement that the investigations should be handed over to the CBI.
Saran told rediff.com from his residence in Dehradun that the CBI could handle it better.
"I have not criticised investigations by the Delhi police. But I personally feel that since the investigations is spread in the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttranchal and Madhya Pradesh, the CBI would be in a better position to handle the case. Being the premier investigating agency with an all India jurisdiction, the CBI can carry on investigations without any hindrance," Saran said.
"It is a case involving a Member of Parliament and the incident took place in Delhi. Surely there can be a larger conspiracy behind the murder. It is not an ordinary murder considering the manner in which the accused surrendered and the manner they tried to build up alibis before the murder. Such things have to be kept in mind while investigating the case. That is why I am in favour of a CBI investigation," he said.
When asked what progress the state police had made in the investigations into the death of five tuskers in the Jim Corbett National Park sometime back, Saran said that they have already arrested eight people and recovered tusks worth Rs 3.5 million from them.
"The case has been solved. We are looking for one of the accused who is from Arunachal Pradesh. We have told the state police about it. We hope to arrest him soon," he said.
Complete coverage of the Phoolan Devi murder case
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