Four years on, CBI still in dark over city architect’s murder
| Date :14-Jul-2020 |
Deceased Eknath Nimgade
By Shirish Borkar :
DESPITE announcing a bounty of Rs five lakh to the person providing concrete information about the killer(s) of architect-cum-valuer Eknath Nimgade, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is still groping in dark to trace the suspects involved in the sensational homicidal case that rocked the Second Capital almost four years ago.
After more than three-and-a-half years of the probe, the country’s premier investigation agency was clueless about the perpetrator(s) of the 74-year-old architect’s murder at Lal Imli Chowk, Central Avenue in Gandhibag. A team of bureau officers had also quizzed some suspects, including two prominent builders and a former union minister, in this connection but could not get any prima facie evidence against them. Finally, the CBI’s Mumbai-based Special Crime Branch in July last year had announced a reward of Rs five lakh to the informer helping crack the murder mystery and bring the culprit(s) to book.
The investigation agency had also assured that identity of the informer would not be disclosed. However, none came forward so far to share any vital information about the person(s) involved in the crime. Sources told ‘The Hitavada’ that the investigating officer keeps on visiting Nagpur and interacts with local police personnel and others in a bid to procure inputs about a few suspects and gangsters considered to be contract killers to get some lead in the ongoing probe. In the past couple of years, the bureau had to face credibility crisis following a controversy between two high-ranking CBI officials -- the then Director Alok Verma and former Special Director Rakesh Asthana -- and subsequent transfers of their juniors across the country, sources added. As a result, possibility of the investigation going at a snail’s pace cannot be ruled out allegedly due to lack of proper supervision by senior officers. Nimgade was shot dead by a masked scooterette-borne goon when he was returning home on his two-wheeler on September 6, 2016. The assailant had pumped eight bullets into the septuagenarian.
Tehsil Police had registered a murder case. The deceased’s family had maintained that the dispute over a five-and-half acre land adjoining Wardha Road was the reason behind the murder. The bereaved family had also named five persons, including two prominent builders and a former union minister, as suspects. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had directed the CBI to take over the investigation from Crime Branch of Nagpur Police after Nimgade’s son Adv Anupam had petitioned against the lackadaisical probe.
As the motive behind Nimgade’s murder could not be established, CBI officers had conducted deception detection tests, narco-analysis, polygraph and brain mapping of a few suspects but were unable to get any clue. The investigators had interrogated several goons, mostly dealing in disputed properties in this connection. They also procured footage of CCTV cameras installed near the spot where the crime took place but could not establish the identity of the killer.