Madanlal Pahwa was arrested by the Delhi police ten
days before the assassination. He gave a statement
to the police that editor of a Marathi paper in Poona
was planning the killing. Yet the police could not
prevent the killing. Why?
I suspect U.H. Rana, [Mumbai deputy commissioner
of police] J.D. Nagarvala and [Intelligence Bureau
director] T.G. Sanjevi were operatives of Force 136.
These three were highly competent and professional
offi cers. How come they suddenly become ineffi cient?
Sanjevi, as the head of IB, just had to get the name and
issue an arrest warrant. He did not do it. He tells Rana.
Rana goes to Allahabad! Nagarvala is working on some
kidnapping theory. Such incompetence is unbeliev-
able. It was very strongly, adversely commented upon
by the judge Atma Charan in the trial court.
Dr J.C. Jain had told [Bombay home minister]
Morarji Desai that Madanlal and Vishnu Karkare
were planning to kill Gandhi. Why didn’t the Bombay
police make arrests?
The role of Morarji Desai as home minister is very
strange. The Kapur Commission records that Naray-
an Apte was chargesheeted in July 1947 for being in-
volved in a conspiracy to throw a hand-grenade. That
chargesheet was withdrawn from the court. This is
very strange.
Malgonkar’s book says Narayan Apte was a recruiting
offi cer for Royal Indian Air Force.
The Kapur Commission also says he was in the Air
Force. But I have a letter from defence minister Mano-
har Parrikar which says that there are no records of
Apte being in the
Air Force. The de-
fence minister of
India has access to
all records, includ-
ing those of the
Royal Indian Air
Force. Parrikar in-
vestigated.
What are the
material facts that
we do not know
about the Gandhi
murder? Do we
know who supplied
the Beretta pistol?
Four people were
chargesheeted
for supplying the
weapon—accused
number 9, 10, 11
and 12. Dattatraya
Parchure, number
9, was acquitted.
Accused number
10, 11 and 12 were
never arrested.
Once Parchure
was acquitted, they
surrendered and got
discharged. So on
record who supplied
the pistol?
Wasn’t it J.P. Goel,
the arms dealer?
That is even more
strange. Goel admit-
ted, as a prosecu-
tion witness, that he
owned the pistol and
that it was unlicensed.
Because he had no
documents to show it
was his pistol. If you
own an unlicensed
weapon with which
the Father of the Na-
tion was murdered,
are you not liable for
prosecution? Why
was Goel never pros-
ecuted? There are so
many mysteries.
According to you,
what was Apte?
In all probability he was a Force 136 operative.
Apte and Godse were two very different people.
Godse wanted to die. Apte wanted to live.
Both were staunch hindutva fanatics.
Apte had two wives. One of them, Manorama
Salvi, was a Marathi Christian. So you have a
devoted hindutva person marrying a Christian
girl and fathering a child? Does it fi t in?
Men are like that.
Apte never confessed to his crime. He went in
appeal. Was Apte not entitled to have the Su-
preme Court of India hear his claim of inno-
cence? He appealed to the Privy Council [the
court of appeal for the British colonies]. The
Privy Council returned the paper saying it was
going to lose its jurisdiction. That was on Octo-
ber 26, 1949. Then how come he was executed
on November 15, 1949 without waiting for [the
Supreme Court of India to come into being on]
January 26, 1950? What was the tearing hurry?
He had two children, one mentally challenged,
another a one-year-old girl. ◆Apte had two
wives. One
of them was
a Marathi
Christian.
So you have
a devoted
hindutva
person
marrying a
Christian girl?
Missing
officer:
Defence
minister’s
letter
about
Apte not
being in
Air Force
recordsTHE WEEK NOVEMBER 12, 2017^39