No complaint from Nithari witnesses on death threat from CBI,UP tells SC

Bandana,Jatin’s widow of Jatin had moved the apex court seeking prosecution of the CBI officials for allegedly carrying out the murder of her husband to shield Moninder Singh Pandher,one of the two key accused in the 2006 serial killings in UP’s Noida district.

In the affidavit filed before the apex court today,the UP police submitted that there were no records available either with the Sihani police station or any other officer about the alleged complaint made by Jatin on the threat faced by him,which culminated in his mysterious death.

A bench of Justices D K Jain and H L Dattu granted two weeks time to the widow to file her reply to the State’s affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks.

According to the State whenever,a complaint is received the same is endorsed by a “competent officer” and referred to the officer concerned for making an entry into the “receipt register”. In the present case it was claimed no such records were available as no complaint was received,the affidavit added.

The CBI had in an affidavit earlier categorically denied the charge.

The affidavit comes in the backdrop of an earlier direction from the apex court directing the State to explain the allegation of Jatin Sarkar’s widow that her husband had been murdered by CBI officials as they wanted to shield Pandher.

The widow,through her counsel Shakti Singh Dhakray and B P Singh Dhakray,had alleged that then CBI director Vijay Shankar,then SP S D M Gilani and former Noida Circle Officer Dinesh Yadav were responsible for killing her husband.

The apex court passed the direction after noting the the dichotomy in the stance of Bandana and the CBI. The CBI in its affidavit had denied the allegation of Bandana that Jatin had initially lodged a complaint with the Sihani Police Station,Ghaziabad in UP on May 18,2007 alleging threat to his life from the top CBI brass.

The widow had however,produced in the apex court the complaint copy with the purported official seal of the police station.

Bandana had alleged that her husband had lodged a complaint with the Sihani Police apprehending threat to his life from the said CBI officials but the same was ignored culminating in his eventual murder on September 1,2007.

On August 17,while directing UP to file its response forthwith within three days,the apex court observed,“ultimately,the man has been murdered.” After the murder of their daughter the couple shifted to Behrampur village in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.