The Hindu : National : Police to seek panel opinion on Geelani's injuries

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 11, 2005

National

National

Police to seek panel opinion on Geelani's injuries

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 10. With Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani being shifted to a recovery room at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Delhi police today sought the appointment of a medical board to seek an opinion on the nature of his injuries, to carry forward the investigations in the absence of any eyewitness accounts. Mr. Geelani is still not in a position to make a statement.

Mr. Geelani was shot at under mysterious circumstances near the residence of his lawyer, Nandita Haksar, at Vasant Enclave here on Tuesday night while he was on his way to meet her after parking his car. Ms. Haksar and her husband rushed him to AIIMS with three bullet injuries.

With his condition improving, Mr. Geelani was shifted to the recovery room from the intensive care unit this afternoon. However, doctors did not allow the Crime Branch to question him, stating that he was still medically unfit. His family members also claimed that they were not allowed to meet him this morning.

Haksar questioned

A police team visited the residence of Ms. Haksar this evening and spent over four hours questioning her on the sequence of events.

Meanwhile, several police teams have been formed to probe all possible motives behind the attack, including personal enmity, involvement of relatives of persons convicted in the Parliament attack case, any relative of police personnel who died fighting the five terrorists who had stormed Parliament in December 2001, or even the possible involvement of a terrorist outfit.

This apart, the mobile and landline telephone records of Mr. Geelani are being examined and people with whom he was in touch last Tuesday were being questioned for clues.

Tight-lipped over the evidence gathered so far, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), Ranjit Narayan, asserted that the probe was heading in the right direction.

Meanwhile, the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, told mediapersons today that the police would look into the attempt on Mr. Geelani's life. About the demands made by Mr. Geelani's supporters for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe, Mr. Patil said: "Investigation can be done in a proper manner. Whatever the court suggests or whatever has to be done will be done."