Click to play videoNoida: The gruesome serial killings in Nithari village, Noida have become the reason for much political mud slinging and debate.
Everyone has rushed in to grab a piece of the publicity pie, but in the process have conveniently forgotten the CBI probe into the matter - a probe that the Mulayam Singh government had promised nearly four days ago, after facing a lot of flak.
The blame game has begun, with the Central Government saying that the notification they had received was not properly formatted and the state government alleging that the Centre was simply holding things up.
After bashing the Centre and other Opposition parties for politicising the Nithari killings, Samajwadi Party leader, Amar Singh, had said, "I want to know where is the CBI. I am deliberately asking this after four days of us announcing a CBI probe because I know that the Centre has taken no action."
But, what he seems to have overlooked when he made the statement is that the Centre received no notification for a CBI probe from the Uttar Pradesh government till Tuesday.
And the letter that finally did arrive was in the wrong format. It was a letter simply requesting the Centre for a CBI probe and not notifying the Centre, as it ideally should have been.
The procedure is that the state sends a properly formatted notification to the Centre. Upon receiving the notification, the Centre publishes it in the gazette and thereafter, the investigation is formally handed over to the CBI.
And all of this can be done in a day's time. The blame game has begun with the state blaming the Centre and vice versa.
UP Home Secretary, R N Srivastava says that the delay is from the Centre's side. "We had sent in the letter on a Saturday, a weekend, so the Centre will only be able to process it on Monday."
The CBI had a different story to tell. Says CBI Director, Vijay Shanker, "I have no information of a CBI probe in Nithari."
After having faced a lot of criticism over the shoddy way in which the initial investigations were handled, a proper notification was finally sent out by the Mulayam Singh government late on Tuesday night.
The format being talked about is nothing new and neither is the state government unaware of it.
But the four days spent in the blame game has ensured vital investigation time lost.
Meanwhile, the Noida Police has extended the remand period of both the accused till January 10.
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