REACTING to the verdict in the Jhiram Ghati case, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said the case had been investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for 13 years and the court had examined the statements of more than 100 witnesses before delivering its verdict. Sai said the Jhiram Ghati case was handed over to the NIA for investigation when the UPA Government was in power at the Centre. The agency subsequently conducted the investigation and pursued the legal proceedings for 13 years, he said. The Chief Minister said 10 accused had been convicted in the case, while the NIA special court would pronounce the sentences on September 16. Taking a dig at former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Sai referred to his earlier claim of possessing evidence related to the Jhiram Ghati incident.

 

He said that if Baghel had any evidence regarding the case while he was in power, he should have handed it over to the NIA. Sai also criticised the Congress, alleging that the party followed a ‘divide and rule’ policy and encouraged factionalism wherever it operated. Referring to Baghel’s recent organisational assignment in the Congress, Sai said that when Baghel was given charge of Punjab, sections of the state Congress had opposed him. He claimed that posters bearing the slogan “Go Back Bhupesh Baghel” had also been put up in Punjab. Sai suggested that the opposition within the Punjab Congress could have been one of the reasons behind Baghel’s subsequent reassignment to another State.