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Journalism of Courage
Adding a twist to conspiracy theories behind the Maoist attack on a Congress convoy in Bastar last month,the party Saturday released an SMS that allegedly pointed a finger at CM Raman Singh.
On May 23,slain PCC chief Nand Kumar Patels son Dinesh Patel had sent the SMS to Shailesh Nitin Trivedi,state Congress media department president. Raman Singh ko lekar bada khulas 15 June ko PCC dwara… uske baad CM ka isteefa nishchit, it read. On May 25,Maoists attacked the Parivartan Yatra and killed Dinesh for no apparent reason. While ADG (Intelligence) Mukesh Gupta had expressed surprise why Dinesh was singled out,even a Maoist statement explaining the killings was silent on the killing of Dinesh.
The SMS shows that Dinesh had something major against the chief minister. It confirms what we have been saying for long that there was a conspiracy behind the attack and the BJP government was involved. The SMS now takes this directly to the CM, Congress programme coordinator Bhupesh Baghel told The Sunday Express.
Only two persons were killed in a brutal manner,Mahendra Karma and Dinesh Patel. Severe injuries were found on Dineshs head. Eyewitnesses said that Maoists repeatedly asked them who was Dinesh and then they searched for his laptop… why? Why did they want to kill him? Why did they need his laptop, he said.
Baghel said since the CM is the head of the unified command,he should disclose when he first received the information about the attack and what orders he issued.
The Congress also said that with Dineshs death the secret was buried and now investigative agencies must unearth it. I do not know the revelation Dinesh was referring to. When he sent me this SMS,I thought that since I handle press conferences he had suggested me to keep a schedule for this revelation. But then the attack took place,and the rituals kept us busy. Today,June 15,the date he had suggested for the disclosure,I decided to make this SMS public, Trivedi said.
The BJP rejected the charges and said that investigative agencies were already probing the case. SMS is only a medium of information,it is not a fact and cannot be termed as evidence. Congress should not indulge in cheap politics and hand over the SMS to investigative agencies, party spokesperson Sanjay Srivastava said.
