Lets Kill Gandhi

by Gandhi, Tushar A.

  15.54 They also protested against handing over Kashmir to Sheikh Abdullah taking it away from a Hindu King. It was also said there that the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha were accused of conspiracy to murder Pt. Nehru. There was also a reference to Mahatma Gandhi.

  STATEMENTS OF WITNESSES IN POONA

  15.63 N.M. Kamte, retired Inspector General of Police witness No. 4 was examined thrice by the Commission and once before Pathak. He stated that Hindu Mahasabha movement did exist in Poona but he could not say if it was a strong movement. Its aims and objectives were to unite the Hindus and protect their interests and there was antagonism between the Hindu Mahasabha and the Congress. The Hindu Rashtra Dal in Poona was lead by Chitpavan Brahmins.

  15.64 Although the Hindu Mahasabha was not very much excited about the Partition, it was excited when the news of what was happening in western Punjab came.

  15.67 He read about throwing of the bomb in the newspapers. Nobody informed him about that fact. He could not connect Madanlal with any person in Poona nor could he say if the Poona Police knew that Madanlal was living in Ahmednagar. Kamte did not know Prof. Jain. Between the explosion of the bomb and the murder of the Mahatma he did not know what the conspirators were and he had no reason to suspect Poona people being involved in it. The first time he came to know about this fact was when Sanjevi telephoned him about the murder on January 30, 1948 in the evening.

  15.69 The Poona Police were not associated in the investigation from 20th to 30th January 1948 excepting that Rana was in Delhi and had been given certain information and also a copy of Madanlal's statement dated 24 January 1948 which was shown to him (Kamte) by Rana a day or two after the murder.

  15.74 Immediately after he got information about the murder he sent for Rana and asked him for the statement of Madanlal which Rana showed him. Kamte then asked him why he had not taken immediate action, come to Poona and informed Gurtu. His reply was that he was waiting for Inspector Angarkar who was then on leave. Kamte did not think that the Poona Police was sympathetic towards the conspirators or the RSS.

  15.78 He (Kamte) first said that he did not know that the intention of the conspirators was to kidnap Mahatma Gandhi. He knew nothing about the facts contained in Nagarvala's letter to Sanjevi dated 30 January 1948. Ex. 8. Then Kamte added that he had a faint recollection 'that Nagarvala may have told me about the theory of kidnapping'. He thought that it was a fantastic theory.

  In answer to another question he said: 'The vigilance will depend on the suspicion against the persons concerned. In this case, the suspicion was not of murdering Mahatmaji but the suspicion was that there were people in Poona who were against Mahatmaji's idea of giving 55 crores (550 million) to Pakistan. If Gurtu had learnt about Madanlal's statement, he could easily have come to the conclusion that these are the people who were conspiring to murder Mahatmaji.'

  15.82 .... Had he (Kamte) known that the people in the conspiracy were from Bombay province he would have placed 20 or 25 persons from Bombay around Mahatma Gandhi to see that the conspirators did not get anywhere near him. Godse etc. were known to the Poona C.I.D. There must have been good reason why they were not shadowed. Once a man was in a list called the Black List, he was shadowed for 24 hours. As the names of Godse etc. were not in the List it means C.I.D. did not know that they were dangerous.

  This seems to be a very curious stand. Less than six months previously Apte was an accused in a bomb attack in Poona. Godse was known to be a close associate of Apte and yet all the policemen keep saying that they did not think that these persons were potentially dangerous.

  15.84 In cross examination he (Kamte) said if the statement Ex. 1 had been shown to him earlier, he would have got those persons mentioned there shadowed and kept them under constant watch. If the statement showed that there was a conspiracy to murder, he would have asked the police to arrest them at once and had he been told that one was an editor of the Hindu Rashtra, Poona and the other the owner of Shastra Bhandar, he would have been able to find out at once through his subordinate staff as to the identity of those persons. Before the murder he had not heard of Apte or Nathuram Godse. If he had arrested them, he might or might not have put shadow on their close associates.If hehad arrested them, he might or might not have put shadow on their closeassociates.

  15.87 In his letter to Sanjevi dated 20 April 1948, Ex. 97, Kamte had complained about Rana's bungling. He said that his intention was to make Rana realise the desirability of taking steps immediately. He got a copy of Madanlal's statement and his desire was that Rana should not commit a mistake like that again. It shows that in the opinion of Kamte, Rana bungled in not making any use of the statement of Madanlal which had been handed over to him in Delhi on 25 January 1948. But will there be another Gandhi to be protected?

  U.H. RANA, WIT. 3

  15.90 U.H. Rana, D.I.G., CID witness No. 3 when examined on 7 February 1967, stated that he was called by Sanjevi on the day following the explosion and was told that Madanlal had given certain information showing that his companions were from Bombay side but it did not disclose where they belonged to. He had not stated that they belonged to Poona but he had mentioned Savarkar. Rana was also told that Madanlal had said that one of them was a Sadhu with a beard and another was his servant named Shankar and the third was an editor of a newspaper and he did not say where the newspaper was published. Since Savarkar was mentioned, Rana at once concluded that they must be Savarkarites.

  15.94 During the time that he was D.I.G., C.I.D., Poona, he did not hear the story of Godse and others going to Panchgani. Nothing of importance came to his notice about the activities of Nathuram Godse or of Apte or of Badge or of their group, nor that they were directed towards violence. The police reporters whose duty it was to report proceedings or the speeches of the meetings addressed by politicians did not make any such report. These persons were not on the Black List to be shadowed. Nor did he know that the Kesari Group was a militant group. He did not know that G.V. Ketkar, Bhagwan and others were connected with the Hindu Mahasabha.

  15.97 He had no knowledge of Karkare and Madanlal having been ordered to be detained. When asked if he had seen the report of Sub- Inspector Balkundi dated 4 January 1948, Ex. 66, about Karkare and Madanlal, he replied that he must have seen it because there was his endorsement dated 14 January on it. But it was not within his province to recommend or not to recommend detention. They were not persons with provincial 'reputation'. He was not camping at Ahmednagar in January but the A.D.I.G. (Crime) was.

  15.99 Rana was then examined in regard to various bomb incidents at Ahmednagar and he said that he had seen the reports and sent Inspector Razak on 12 December 1947. If written reports were sent in regard to Ahmednagar incidents and his initials are on them, then he must have seen them. He was shown the report of Inspector Razak about the activities of Madanlal etc. but he said that it did not come to his notice but it might have come to his office. Nor did he know that Karkare was holding conferences with Apte and Godse. According to what he knew, neither Godse nor Apte were of provincial or interprovincial importance. It was not reported to him that Godse and Apte were meeting Karkare in Ahmednagar.

  15.100 He had not seen Ex. 67, the report of Sub-Inspector Balkundi dated 29 January 1948 about the identity of Madanlal. If the D.S.P. had received any information in regard to Madanlal in the ordinary course he should have sent it to him. There were violent activities in Poona and Ahmednagar but there was nothing to show that they were anti-Gandhi. They were anti-Muslim.

  15.106 When asked about the statement of Munshi about the Poona School of thought led by Savarkar, he said it did exist but there was no information that its violence would be directed against Mahatma Gandhi nor did he know that the Kesari group was against Mahatma Gandhi.

  15.110 Rana said:—

  'I saw Sanjevi at about 9.30 am or 10.00 am. He said that Madanlal had started talking and the latter stated that he came from Bombay; met Savarkar; and also gave the name of one Karkare and mentioned one Sadhu wh
o had a servant. Sanjevi did not give me the name of the Agranee or its proprietor or editor or the name of Hindu Rashtra, its proprietor or editor. I would like to repeat that he (Sanjevi) did not mention the names of either newspaper—Agranee and Hindu Rashtra—or their proprietors or Editors.'

  15.112 In the statement of Madanlal which he brought to Bombay, the name of the Agranee or the Hindu Rashtra was mentioned. There was also mention of the editor and the proprietor. There appears to be some confusion in the witness's mind as the name Agranee is not there. He did not telephone to Poona from Nagarvala's house because Nagarvala told him that there was a big organisation and they wanted to make simultaneous arrests and Nagarvala's information was that they wanted to kidnap Mahatma Gandhi. Therefore, he did not inform his office in Poona to take any precautions in regard to the Editor of the Agranee. Besides, he was going to Poona next morning and he thought he would take action when he reached there.

  15.114 He did not think that the culprits would return immediately to put their design into operation. Sanjevi was also of the same opinion more particularly because one of them had been arrested.

  15.117 Rana was asked a specific question whether the culprits were known to the Poona CID as being persons who were likely to take part in violent activities. He replied:—

  'I can now say that amongst them Apte, Godse, Karkare, Athawle and Badge were the potential mischief makers who were taking part in violent activities.'

  15.118 He was then asked if the sending of Bombay Police would have averted the catastrophe. He replied that there were too many assumptions in the question, that the same person would commit the offence, that they would select the same place or that the men sent there would be able to identify them. He said that up to the January he did not know that Madanlal had named any other persons excepting Karkare and Savarkar. He was not told that Madanlal had made a statement to the police on the midnight of 20 January 1948. Sanjevi did tell him that Madanlal had other associates on Bombay side and one of them was a Sadhu wearing a beard but he did not say that amongst them one was a manager or editor of the Rashtra newspaper nor did Sanjevi say that Madanlal had given descriptions of six companions as his co-conspirators.

  15.121 He did not leave Madanlal's statement with Nagarvala because (1) Nagarvala already had the information from Home Minister, (2) He had been informed about Karkare and Savarkar, (3) Nagarvala had nothing to do with Poona, and (4) He himself was going to Poona the following day and he would take action himself.

  The next day, Rana conveniently developed fever and so he decided to postpone his return to Poona.

  15.128 He (Rana) went to see the Home Minister on the 28th morning. His object was to find out who his informant was which Nagarvala had not been able to get. If the identity had been given, it is possible that they might have been able to find out something more. He reached Delhi after the murder on 2 February. He did not know anything about Sathe who was mentioned by Mrs. Barve.

  15.129 In cross examination he (Rana) said that when he went to Sanjevi on the 21st there were some other police officers cne of whom was Rikhikesh and the other was Bhatia who were investigating officers in the Bomb Case. Neither of them had a statement of Madanlal with them and the talk was oral, no document was referred to and nobody mentioned the editor of Agranee or Hindu Rashtra or any newspaper nor was he asked by Sanjevi to find out about any newspaper nor was he asked by Sanjevi to find out about the editor of a newspaper. He was told that Madanlal had mentioned there persons—Karkare and a Sadhu and his servant, and the other companions were Marathas from Bombay side. As soon as Marathas of Bombay were mentioned, He (Rana) suspected Savarkar and his group. He mentioned Bombay to Sanjevi because Savarkar resided there and Poona because it was the stronghold of the Hindu Mahasabhaite group. He had not heard that the officers going to Bombay had taken a precis of Madanlal's statement. He was told that Madanlal's statement was in Urdu; it was being translated to help him and the Bombay Police in the investigation in Bombay.

  15.131 From the fact that Sanjevi knew that he (Rana) was travelling by train, he must be under the impression that because one of the conspirators had been arrested, the others were not likely to come back soon to commit any further offences. Sanjevi told him that it would be sufficient if he took necessary action on reaching Bombay and Poona and that he should proceed cautiously and secretly and round up the whole lot in one sweep. On the 25th Sanjevi told him that one of the conspirators was an editor of a newspaper, but he did not mention the name of the person or the place of publication of the paper.

  15.136 Nagarvala also told him that he had made inquiries from Ahmednagar and was told that Karkare was no longer there and he had posted his men to be on the look-out for Karkare in Bombay and he also wanted some Police officers from Poona to identify Badge, a known trafficker in illicit arms. Nagarvala told him that his theory was that the attempt was to kidnap Mahatma Gandhi. He had concluded this on the basis of the information he had from his informers. Nagarvala told him that there were 20 principals and each one of them had a lot of persons working under them and Nagarvala believed that information to be correct.

  15.137 When Nagarvala was speaking 'and I was listening to him and Asking him some questions also about it. I did not think this theory to be fantastic; on the other hand I asked him to inform theD.I.B. on telephone.'

  15.141 When he went to Poona he asked for Angarkar but he was ill. Then he asked for Deulkar but he also was not available being away in Alibaug and he was called back immediately by wireless. Rao Sahib Gurtu knew the names of all the culprits mentioned by Madanlal. Other officers were available in Poona but he (Rana) only wanted Angarkar or Deulkar because they were the only ones who knew the names of the associates of Karkare and their hide-outs. He did not ask anyone about the presence of those persons in Poona. Subsequent inquiries showed that when he reached Poona, Apte and Godse were not there and he himself did not know the whereabouts of Badge. He learnt that Karkare was called Maharaj. After the murder Sanjevi asked Kamte to send some Police Officers from Bombay and they were sent by military plane on 31st January but he did not know who they were. That was because there was a fear that Central Cabinet Ministers would also be attacked. When Rana was sent back to Delhi to supervise the investigation he stayed with Sanjevi and on the morning of the third day they had a talk with each other but Sanjevi did not tell him that Nagarvala had proceeded on wrong lines.

  RAO SAHIB GURTU. WIT. 22.

  15.146 Rao Sahib Gurtu, witness No. 22, was the assistant D.I.G., C.I.D. at Poona. He stated that the D.S.P. Ahmednagar made a reference towards the end of 1947 or thereabout about Madanlal who had addressed a meeting of refugees which had resulted in disturbances. The witness also knew about Karkare who was a prominent Hindu Mahasabha leader in Ahmednagar.

  15.147 Reports used to come in about the communal activities of the group consisting of Nathuram Godse, Karkare, Apte and Badge and several other persons whose names he could not recollect, but they went under the name of Hindu Sabha Movement. There were reports that bombs were being prepared by some of the workers of the Hindu Mahasabha Movement but not that they intended to murder Mahatma Gandhi.

  15.153 The witness was shown an intercepted letter of Karkare (Ex.43) which was addressed to various newspapers in Poona for publication. He said he must have come to know about it as it bore his endorsement. He knew about the orders for the detention of Karkare but could not say why they were passed.

  15.154 Activities of Godse were also being watched by the police but it was not a continuous watch so as to prevent his eluding it. If any name had been given to Poona Police, it would have taken steps to apprehend them. He could not remember having any talks with Nagarvala during the period 20 January to 30 January 1948. If the witness had been told that one of the persons mentioned by Madanlal was the editor of Agranee or the Hindu Rashtra, he would have arrested him at once. When he was asked how he would have arrested persons named by Madanlal when warrants on Karkare could not be eff
ectively served, his reply was that that was being done by the District Police and not by the CID.

  15.155 In his cross examination he stated that reports were sent every week to amongst others, the D.I.B. by the D.I.G. compiled from the reports received by the D.S.Ps. and that these reports contained the names of Godse, Apte, Karkare, Savarkar and Dr. Parchure of Gwalior. Although from 15 August 1947, a watch was kept by the local police on certain Hindu Mahasabha and RSS workers, the watch was discontinued in November 1947.

  PRAVINSINHJI VIJAYSINHJI, WIT. 38.

  Witness No. 38, Pravinsinhji Vijaysinhji, was D.S.P. of Poona between July 1947 and May 1949 and subsequently rose to be the Inspector General of Police of Bombay. His deposition shows that in the middle of 1947 communal violence in Poona City was running very high because of the Partition and the feeling against Muslims. The prominent Hindu Mahasabha workers then included Bhopatkar, Abhyankar, Apte, Nathuram Godse and G.V. Ketkar but their activities were confined to being anti-Muslim. There was no overt attack against the Muslim League or against the Muslims; although they carried on propaganda against the Congress because it agreed to the Partition and there was strong feeling against Mahatma Gandhi as being the main architect of the Partition. There was no overt attack against them.

  15.165 A specific question was put to the witness about the July speech of Nathuram Godse in which he said that secret organisations should be formed and revolutionary methods resorted to and he had hinted that the time had come to do away with the top ranking Congress leaders or that Gandhiji and Nehru being thorns in the establishment of Hindu Rajya should be removed, and his reply was that it did not happen during his time. He was a reader of the Kesari and he heard nothing about the activities of Apte or his taking part in the bomb explosion. At no time did it come to his notice that Nathuram Godse or Apte were indulging in illegal activities.

  15.167 This witness knew nothing about Sathe who was mentioned in the statement of Mrs. Barve. If Barve had the information that Poona people had gone to Delhi to murder Mahatma Gandhi, he would certainly have passed it on to him (the witness). The Police was quite vigilant and tried to keep itself informed of the activities of every person who was likely to resort to violence. But it had no knowledge about what Apte and Godse were doing.