BJP MP Dinu Bogha Solanki sent in CBI custody in RTI activist murder case

AHMEDABAD: BJP MP from Junagadh, Dinu Bogha Solanki, was today remanded in CBI custody till November 11 in RTI activist Amit Jethwa murder case by a special CBI court here.

Solanki was arrested by CBI on Tuesday and was brought to the city yesterday on transit remand.

CBI lawyer Kumar Rajat today sought his 14-day custodial remand for further interrogation.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate H G Pandya granted remand of four days. Solanki would be examined by doctors during the period, the court directed.

The CBI lawyer argued that there was enough evidence showing Solanki's involvement in the murder conspiracy.

Solanki's counsel Nirupam Nanavati opposed the CBI plea and said the MP was being targeted because he belonged to "a certain political party", and was from Junagadh.

Gujarat police, which probed the case initially, arrested six persons, including Shiva Solanki, nephew of the BJP MP, and sharp-shooter Sailesh Pandya who is accused of shooting Jethwa outside the Gujarat High Court on July 20, 2010. But they ruled out the possibility of Dinu Solanki's involvement.

Jethwa had filed several RTI applications and a public interest litigation on the issue of illegal mining in Gir forest region, the last surviving abode of the Asiatic lion.

After the Gujarat police's crime branch gave a clean chit to the MP, Jethwa's father approach the Gujarat High Court. The High Court termed the police probe as "far from fair, independent, bona fide or prompt", and transferred the case to CBI.