CHANDIGARH: A missing part of Car of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh is hampering the CBI investigations into the assassination ‘Case. According to CBI ‘sources, the ‘Scientists engaged in reconstructing it he scene of crime have been unable to locate the “bullet-proof armour” fitted in the left rear side of the car dickey. Finding this part of CM’s car 18 Necessary to “confirm or rule out” ‘the possibility of the use of a second bomb in the incident.

The CBI is learnt to be making secret inquiries about the missing vital party because on August 31, the day the incident took place, a number of agencies, including the Punjab Police and its forensic scientists, swung into action and reached the site, Although a “senior Punjab police: officer ruled out ‘the possibility of the part being in the custody of its scientists, CBI sources Believe that the armour was taken ‘away by the Punjab Police on the first day of the incident.

The reconstruction of the scene is based on the scientific examination of each damaged part of the car and other vehicles of the slain CM’s cavalcade, Its findings will be appended as evidence to the “challan” in the court.

The CBI experts require the missing armour to establish the positioning and strength of the bomb which would be indicated by the quantum of damage done to the armour besides the angle at which it was hit.

The arch type cover of the dickey which lay about 50 feet away from the car, till date defies any scientific explanation. The CBI, after taking over The investigations, transported the wreckage to its Delhi forensic laboratory, on September 3. It was there that the part was found missing. The matter was immediately brought to the notice of senior officials.

A Punjab police officer explained that the part could have been lost during the car’s transportation to Delhi. It was the CBI to locate the same since it was investigating the case, he charged, adding that the responsibility 10 protect and preserve the evidence rested with none other than the investigating agency. He said that the Punjab Police scientists merely collected “Colton swabs” form the scene of the crime to ascertain the kind of material used in the bomb. The was completed within the next few days ahead of any other laboratory. It is a different matter that the chemical analysis carried out by the CBI experts and the Punjab Police scientists did not tally, The later had ruled out the use of RDX in the bomb while the former had established that RDX was a constituent of the bomb.

It is learnt that the Punjab police, which is studying the assassination of the Chief Minister for its “operational Requirements necessary to provide foolproof security to the V VIPs in the future, has already reconstructed the scene of crime, details of which have been kept secret. The CBI scientists are, however, conducting their independent study.

ACBI official posted in Delhi, when Contacted, said that if their inquiries confirm that the part had been deliberately concealed by someone, a separate case might be registered for destroying the evidence in one of the Nation’s most important cases.

 

Article extracted from this publication >> October 20, 1995