No One Killed Satish Shetty: The Death of the CBI

Six years, 5 HC cases and 3 CBI teams later, the nation’s top investigative agency just doesn’t know who did it.

Representational image of a murder scene. (Photo: iStockphoto)

Industry. Impartiality. Integrity.

The motto of India’s top investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is *almost* as farcical as its “probe” into the January 2010 murder of RTI activist Satish Shetty a few kilometres away from his home in Talegaon Dabadhe, Maharashtra.

• July 2009: RTI activist Satish Shetty begins probing bogus land acquisition deals made by IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited. IRB had acquired 2,800 acres of land (including forest reserves) along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway to build a township by forging documents.
  
• October 2009: Shetty files FIR against 13 accused, including IRB’s Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), Virendra Mhaiskar and 12 others, including several government officials.
  
• 13 January 2010: Satish Shetty stabbed to death in broad daylight.

• 10 April 2010: Satish’s brother, Sandeep Shetty moves the Bombay HC to hand over the case to the CBI, following an unsatisfactory probe by the Pune Rural Police. They arrested six suspects, including advocate Vijay Dabhade. Shetty’s family dismissed Dabhade’s role in the murder.
• 17 April 2010: The CBI takes over the case.

RTI Satish Shetty was murdered in cold blood on his morning walk on 13 January 2010, three months after he filed an FIR against IRB Infra for bogus land deals. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/ABP Majha)

And that’s really when the foundations of the national investigation agency began to show deep fault lines.

After taking over the case, between April 2010 and August 2014, a very enthused CBI, through its Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Pune, examined 550 persons, raided 30 IRB properties, took polygraph tests of 36 persons, recorded call data of over 200 people and rounded-up more than 50 murderers in the probe of the case.

Progress on the case saw a definite leap when on 8 August 2014, the CBI petitioned the Bombay HC to re-open the land scam case based on the FIR Shetty had originally filed in October 2009, stating that prima facie Satish’s FIR was also the cause for his murder.

Three days later on 11 August 2014, the CBI filed for a closure of Satish Shetty’s murder probe, on account of “missing links in the chain of evidence.” The Quint has access to this document.

Strike One: A Closure Report With Enough Evidence To Prosecute

As per the 1000-page closure report submitted by the CBI to the Pune Sessions Court, six accused had been arraigned after investigations: Virendra Mhaiskar; IRB’s Liason Officer, Jayant Dangre; advocate Ajit Kulkarni; then Police Inspector (PI) Bhausaheb Andhalkar and Sub-Inspector Namdev Kauthale of the Pune Rural Police; and, Dilip Shinde, then Deputy Superintendent of Police, Lonavala.

The report mentions that deception was detected amongst polygraph tests of “many of the accused”, including PI Andhalkar, when asked about their involvement in Satish Shetty’s murder.

The call data analysis of Dangre, Advocate Ajit Kulkarni, Andhalkar and Mhaiskar prima facie revealed close nexus, particularly after registration of land scam case at the Lonavla city police station on the complaint of deceased against Virendra Datatreya Mhaiskar and 12 others for the offences of criminal conspiracy, forgery and cheating till the deceased was murdered on 13 January 2010.

Excerpt from CBI’s closure report filed in August 2014

It also highlighted several falsifications in the murder probe by the Pune rural police, including the planting of fake witnesses, and planting and destroying evidence. It is revealed in the document that Dangre offered Shetty a bribe of Rs 2 crore, upon refusal of which he threatened to “break his arms and legs.”

Besides, how could the case be closed at all when there was an ongoing parallel case re-opened by them suspecting a link? Perhaps the answer lies in the conversation between Sandeep, the victim’s brother and Sushil Prasad Singh, CBI’s Investigating Officer (IO) in July 2014; Sandeep recorded the conversation. 

In the conversation, the IO tells Sandeep that he had been called for a meeting in February 2014 with then CBI Director Ranjit Sinha and Special Director Anil Sinha who pressurised him to close the case urgently, scolding him for prolonging the probe, and unnecessarily bringing the “land angle” into the case. The IO also tells Sandeep that IRB’s CMD, Mhaiskar had met with CBI Director Ranjit Sinha in a private meeting.

Why, after four years of rigorous investigation, did the CBI suddenly drop the case? The IO’s presentation on the probe was not listened to by Ranjit Singh and Anil Sinha and his proposal to arrest the accused was ignored; the meeting between Mhaiskar and Sinha was not made public by the CBI, and we know the nature of facts in the closure report. Then, saying that the government-run investigative agency colluded with IRB’s top brass to quash the case would not be off the mark.

Strike Two: Reopening The Case In A Knee-Jerk Reaction

Nothing screams ‘guilty’ more than hasty shuffles, and the CBI has been nothing but skittish about the whole case. Obviously startled by a sudden closure report by the CBI despite damning evidence found by its own probe, Sandeep moved the Bombay HC to quash the closure, submitting his recorded phone call with the IO.

On 17 January 2015, the CBI reopened the Satish Shetty murder probe apparently based on “incriminating evidence” they found during the raids they conducted on IRB’s offices between November and January 2014.

When the CBI, after four years of investigation, submitted that no tangible proof was found between four of the six accused who were IRB’s top officials and Satish Shetty’s murder, what “incriminating evidence” suddenly came up during their raids pushing them to re-open the case? We still don’t know. 

Strike Three: Two Consolation Arrests And Another False Report

In April 2016, after dragging its feet enough, the CBI arrested police officers Andhalkar and Kauthale for conspiring with the “real perpetrators of the crime” and botching up the murder probe. These two are the same people who were given a clean chit by the CBI in 2014!

Then Police Inspector of the Pune Rural Police Bhausaheb Andhalkar has been arrested for botching up the murder case. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Newsaiya)

On Monday, 4 July 2016, the CBI filed its final charge-sheet. The Quint has access to this document.

However, as always, the CBI has amateurishly left glaring holes in both the arrest and its charge-sheet. It does not elaborate on who the “real perpetrators” were, even though April’s arrest clearly implies more people are involved in the murder. The “incriminating evidence” found during the raids are not extrapolated, nor have any names been divulged. It also reveals Andhalkar intimidated Shetty after he filed the land scam FIR through a proxy sim, and “misdirect(ed) the land scam probe”. When Andhalkar was not in charge of this case’s probe, why was he intimidating Shetty on behalf of the IRB?

So far, we know that:

• There are “real perpetrators” out there.

• “Incriminating evidence” was found during raids at IRB offices linking them to the murder.

• IRB CMD met the then CBI Director.
• IRB’s Dangre called Andhalkar several times during the probe by the Pune Rural Police initially and he tried to bribe and then threatened to kill Shetty.

• IRB officials continuously called Andhalkar between Shetty filing his FIR and his death.

Why, then, has the CBI given a clean chit to IRB’s Mhaiskar, Dangre and Kulkarni when it’s as plain as the nose on their faces that IRB has something to do with the murder – if not everything?

Even while charge-sheeting Andhalkar, Section 302 of the IPC has been revoked.

How can the CBI absolve Andhalkar of murder when they have records of his calls, falsified cases and false polygraph tests? In homicide, the slightest tangible proof of motive is enough for conviction; here, there is CBI’s self-admitted mountain of evidence against IRB’s accused.

The CBI is dead. The nation’s top investigative agency, largely influenced by the politician-builder nexus, has tainted itself thoroughly. These two arrests are not enough and this charge-sheet, bogus.

If you see, the CBI took a U-turn when the government changed in 2014 and Gadkari became a cabinet minister. And the Gadkari-IRB road projects connection is very well known. In a knee-jerk reaction, they re-opened the case, made arrests and filed a very childish charge-sheet. It is majorly a <b>copy-paste job from the 2014 closure report.</b> They have copied the arguments they itself used to close the case, to arrest these two policemen! They’re saying they’ll “continue investigations” but they’re all just trying to wear me out with time and resources. They’re all in on it. Even the media. When I went for an interview at <i>Times Now</i>, right before entering the stage, Arnab Goswami held my hand and asked me to not name Gadkari. What will I do? I’ll move the HC again, what else?&nbsp;

Sandeep Shetty

Six years, five HC cases and three CBI teams later, they simply don’t know who did it? Through its contemptible and redundant “probe”, it has proved it is yet another baabu-run government institution, with not a single shred of industry, impartiality or integrity.