Is Rakesh Maria watching his own officials?
The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Chief, Rakesh Maria is reportedly upset with his own officers. According to sources, he has reached a stage where he is spying on his own team members whom he has trusted for years. And apparently, the media is to blame for this!
In the recent past, Maria had come to realise that some of his trusted, competent and skilled officers have leaked out information to various media houses with regard to ongoing investigations on terrorism activities being conducted by the department.
A highly placed source from the Home department confirmed that Maria is spying on a few ATS officers’ activities and their connections with the media; in fact, the source said, they are put under the scanner on a day to day basis.
Said the source, “The leaking of highly sensitive information in many cases, including 13/7 (Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar) and more recently, Delhi High Court blast, was observed by the authorities. Since the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is also investigating these cases, they were shocked to learn that information on the suspects, in the form of sketches, had been released to media houses.”
As a consequence, the ATS chief had to face the embarrassing situation of having to explain himself to annoyed Central Government authorities who were alarmed at the seeming lack of co-ordination between the two bodies, and the uncontrolled leaks. For this reason, it is also almost impossible to get anything out of the top ATS cop on the subject.
“Maria is very upset and angry too with his team at present. He has now proposed to form a new team of officers to probe the 13/7 series blast and the names have been forwarded to the home Minister, R.R. Patil,” added the source.