Arrested extremists going scot-free

The report also brings to light the fact that some of the militants arrested in connection with the 17th Aug bombings had been arrested previously but subsequently let off due to the inherent lacunae in presenting the case for prosecution.

This is where our concern lies. Because it is difficult, reading the report, not to form the impression that there might have been a degree of complicity of the administration in seeing that these militants went free. The apprehensions that were expressed in the media many times in the past, that there is a great deal of pressure on the investigating agency by the people at the helms of affairs may not be unfounded either. Some have conceded that the process of investigation gets derailed as the merit of the cases is diluted because of political interference from the top. Particularly, the investigating agencies are demotivated to pursue a case when they find ministers and senior leaders in the government repeatedly denying the existence of religious militants in the country, terming it as media propaganda.

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Unless the process of investigation is depoliticised, we will not be able to get to the bottom of any of the bombing incidents, far less the incidents of 17th August.