Probe hints organised conspiracy behind dalits' killings

Mumbai, Dec 5 (UNI) Even as the Maharashtra government has ordered an enquiry into the leakage of report on dalits killings at Khairlanji, the report has recommended thorough probe into the possibility of '' an orgnised conspiracy'' behind the crime.

The report said '' ... the possibility of an organised conspiracy behind the killing of four dalits in Khairlanji echoes unmistakably '' and , therefore, it is necessary that competent authorities and regular investigation agencies pay a special attention to the possibility of an organised conspiracy behind the crime to find out how it got originated, and why it went unnoticed till it finally culminated into the loss of dignity and life of four innocent persons from a vulnerable section of the society.

In Nagpur, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh ordered enquiry into leakage of the report by the Pune-based Yashada Institute to the media before being submitted to the government.

He told reporters ''I have asked Chief Secretary D K Shankaran to conduct the enquiry.'' Althouth Yashada's Director General Ratnakar Gaikwad has been appointed the nodal officer for the State under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes ( prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989, the government would find out who instructed him to prepare the report and release it, Mr Deshmukh added.

The interim report, commissioned by Mr Gaikwad, an IAS officer, in his capacity as the nodal officer under the Act, has been compiled by a joint invesigating team of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Research&Training Institute, State Government's department of social justice, and the Centre for Equity&Social Justice, Yashada.

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