By IANS
Mumbai : An embarrassed Maharashtra government Wednesday ordered a high-level probe into the leak of a sensational compact disc (CD) containing "confessional statements" of two of the accused in the July 11, 2006, Mumbai serial train bombings a day after private television channels aired its footage.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil, who also holds the home portfolio, told reporters that an inquiry would be conducted into "how a CD of the investigations of the July 11, 2006, blasts had reached the media".
"We will not spare any officials of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) responsible for the investigations if found guilty of leaking the CD to the media. Strict action will be taken against them," Patil said without mentioning which agency would conduct the probe.
News channels had Tuesday evening aired what they claimed were video-graphed "confessional statements of two blast accused, Naved Hussain and Mohammed Ali".
The channels claimed the CDs have not been included as evidence with the charge sheet the ATS had filed in the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court, nor had it been produced before the special MCOCA judge Mridula Bhatkar, who is presiding over the trials. The serial bombings killed 187 people and injured more than 800.
The CDs gave a graphic recounting of the conspiracy by the accused. The two even named some alleged Pakistani terrorists who had sneaked into India to carry out the bombings.
Patil said he would personally monitor the progress of the case and all ATS officials connected with the investigation would be under the scanner.