The National Investigation Agency (NIA),probing the murder of RSS pracharak and terror suspect Sunil Joshi,may slap charges of destruction of evidence on the Madhya Pradesh police and others who it believes botched up the case. Investigations by NIA have established that Joshis mobile phone was replaced by another handset by local RSS members. Officials maintained that Joshis mobile phone contained evidence of his activities,including his alleged role in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blasts. After the murder of Joshi in December 2007,RSS office-bearers in Dewas removed his mobile phone,gun,diary and other belongings from his house. A day later,a mobile phone was recovered by MP police and it was claimed to have been owned by Joshi. The MP police did not pursue the investigation,never bothered to verify ownership of the mobile phone. Reinvestigation by the NIA has now established that the mobile phone recovered by MP police never belonged to Joshi. The handset seized by MP police did not contain much information except a few local contacts, said an official of the NIA. The local police role is under the scanner but we are seeking their help to unearth the conspiracy behind Joshis murder. We have examined a few secondary witnesses,friends and doctors who carried out the autopsy of Joshi. Their names were recorded continued on page 2 NIA may charge MP cops with evidence destruction by local police and some of them appeared at the crime scene after the murder, the official added. Officials of NIA also believe that the death of Joshi and his associate Ramprasad Kalouta could be linked. A team visited Giroda village near Indore in connection with the murder of Kalouta. Another associate of Joshi,businessman Rajesh Mishra from Pitampura near Mhow in MP,has also come under the NIA scanner. Mishra is an accused along with Joshi,Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra in the murder of local Congress leader Pyare Singh Ninama,his son Dinesh in 2003. It is alleged that he provided Joshi and others with the raw material for pipe bombs with grooves and a hole at the centre. Similar bombs were used in the attacks on Mecca Masjid and the Ajmer dargah,an official said. Investigators are also looking at the December 2002 seizure of live pipe bombs from Bhopal. This case was also discussed during the meeting the NIA chief had with MP officials during his visit to Bhopal and Indore. It is alleged that Joshi and others had made plans to bomb a gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat in Bhopal.
