What was the real challenge of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case?
Accepting the task. Later I learnt that at least four of my colleagues in Delhi had declined it. They felt the culprits may not be detected and even if a terrorist group is named, there will be so much pressure that their normal life would be dislocated. Once the involvement of the LTTE was discovered, they told me I must be mad to get involved! In fact when CBI Director Vijay Karan asked me to handle the investigations, a day after the killing, I agreed but subject to conditions. I told him I will not allow any politics and will go strictly byfacts and evidence — maybe I had a premonition of what was to follow. So how did you handle the politics and pressures? Few people had the courage to tell me to do the wrong thing but indirectly they tried to intervene. There were a couple of occasions when I had to say, sorry, but I would rather resign than do something against my conscience. Yet, it was the subject of endless politics and even led to the fall of the Gujaral government… I saw
