DR Karthikeyan recollects Rajiv assassination

KOCHI: "I have nothing personal against them; It’s for the government and the court to decide what to do with them; But it’s a fact that there is so much delay in the system, it’s going on for about 20 years; however I don’t want to make any comments about it,” said former CBI Director DR Karthikeyan, who probed the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.With the date fixed for executing the death sentence of three accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination - Murukan, Santhan and Perarivalan - as September 9, Karthikeyan recalled how he was called by the CBI officials to probe into the murder case and how he went from crime to criminals in a case which was at a dead end.“The government tried to bring in an investigator from various agencies, the people in Delhi refused. I was called by the CBI Joint Director to take up the case, they told me I was the right person to take up the probe; I was IG, CRPF then; Actually people from both internal intelligence agencies (RAW and IB) were not ready to take up the case.”Taking up the challenge, Karthikeyan put forward certain demands before the authorities. “No political interference in the case and no third degree punishment, that’s what I demanded. They okayed it and I took up the charge of the Special Investigation Team.”He recalled how they began unravelling the mystery behind the murder."Everybody thought it would remain a mystery forever like the Kennedy assassination. The case was at a dead end; We collected materials, documentary and circumstantial evidence. We filed our findings before the court. Based on the findings, the court made its observations and issued punishments.”When asked about the capital punishment to the three accused in the case when there are global movements against it, he said, "With the evolution of the human rights philosophy, many countries have already abolished death sentence. Ultimately, capital punishment may be abolished across the globe. However with terror incidents like 9/11 and 26/11, the process of abolishing death penalty must have slowed down” he opined.