GANDHINAGAR, November 27: Faced with severe criticism from all quarters, the Gujarat government was forced to constitute a special investigating team (SIT) of police officers, headed by DCP A K Surolia, to inquire into the circumstances leading to the murder of ruling RJP's minority leader and builder Sagir Ahmed in Ahmedabad on Sunday.Among other aspects of the heinous crime, the team will inquire into the alleged use of mobile phone by underworld don Latif from Sabarmati central jail and also help expedite the police efforts to track down the two culprits who murdered the city builder in Danilimda area.Chief Minister Dilip Parikh at his weekly press briefing here yesterday announced the SIT formation. ``The government is viewing Sagir's murder seriously and we are hopeful that the culprits involved will be tracked down very soon, with the police having found some vital clues about the gruesome incident,'' he said.The chief minister refused to divulge details of clues obtained by the police but stressed that ``there is no question of the government adopting a soft approach towards Latif.'' The investigating team will comprise of 8-10 senior police officers, he added.Parikh said Latif would be booked and interrogated for this, too, after following proper procedure, adding that the assassination of the minority leader was the handiwork of the Latif gang and the name of the don figured on top of the First Information Report (FIR). He said the use of mobile phone by lawyers and others had been banned in Sabarmati jail.The chief minister said the police had intensified the investigations and six persons were arrested and booked under PASA yesterday in connection with the incident. These include Yusuf Memmon, Kishore alias Langdo, Mohsin Pathan, Mohammed Hussain Billi, Ashfaq Hakimali Sheikh and Pinky Rajpal Singh. It may be mentioned here that the police had earlier arrested this gang and booked them under PASA, following a complaint by the builder that they had attempted to extort a huge sum from him at the instance of Latif.The chief minister who had earlier ruled out that Latif had a mobile in Sabarmati jail, yesterday admitted that the police had now found evidence for this. ``Latif does not have a mobile but we cannot rule out that he did not use any mobile to issue instructions to murder Sagir who had refused to comply to the don's demand for Rs 10 lakh,'' Parikh said.He also said the police was trying to trace out the mobile from where the calls were made through either the AT and T and Cellforce, the two mobile companies that exist in Ahmedabad.Replying to a question which dwelt on the background of Sagir who had earlier been booked under PASA, the chief minister said his government will ensure that henceforth nobody with a criminal background, what-so-ever, gets a political posting.Parikh, however, had no answer as to why the State Government had not gone in for any appeal even though Latif had got acquitted by the High Court in 11 cases on the grounds of benefit of doubt.
