Himanshu threatens fast unto death

Bhopal, Mar 13: Himanshu Sabharwal, son of Professor HS Sabharwal has threatened to go on a fast unto death from March 20, if his demand for a CBI probe into his father's death was not met.  In an open letter written to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Himashu said “If my demand for handing over the case to CBI was not met within seven days from now i.e. by March 20, I am going to fast until death for the cause of justice.” 

Himanshu, however, claimed that he is yet to decide the venue. He said that he has three options, whether to sit anywhere at Delhi’s India Gate, Madhya Pradesh Assembly in Bhopal or in Ujjain. Reacting to the apex court's decision of transfer of the case from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra, he said that Supreme Court’s directive was a 'moral and token' victory, but lamented that the Apex Court has not sanctioned retrial or a CBI probe. According to him, merely transferring the case out of Madhya Pradesh would not have much impact because if a judge in Nagpur is going to take a view on the same evidence - or rather the lack of it - the purpose of taking the case out of the state would be defeated.

In his letter to the chief minister, Himanshu has listed a number of incidents he believes were aimed at weakening the trial. They include Chouhan’s first reaction to his father’s death as an accident and chief minister’s visit to the prime accused Vimal Tomar in an Indore hospital. The other incidents quoted by Himanshu in his letter include : Policemen on duty who were witness to the murder turned hostile but the state government did not take any disciplinary action; Two police officers who had been suspended for failing to prevent the professor's murder were later promoted; the state government was not ready to accept that the victim died as a result of the assault by the union leaders; leader of the ruling party in the state making statements in favour of the accused; Police had not registered the case of murder against the accused after Professor Sabharwal died and the charge was included only after the case was transferred to the CID.