MDMA formed to probe Rajiv assassination disbanded after 24 yrs

NEW DELHI: The government has wound up the 24-year-old Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) constituted to probe the wider conspiracy into the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, officials said.

MDMA was working under the CBI and comprised officers from multiple central security agencies. The order to disband the agency was issued in May and the pending investigation has been handed over to a different unit of the CBI, the officials said.

The agency was set up in 1998 for two years on the recommendation of MC Jain Commission and was given annual extensions, but it failed to achieve any major breakthrough. The agency, headed by a deputy inspector general of police-ranked officer, had sent 24 Letters Rogatory to countries like Sri Lanka, the UK and Malaysia seeking information on various aspects of the case, including banking transactions. Over 20 requests were responded to by these countries and only few were remaining, they said. Sources said the probe was almost complete and the issue of some pending judicial requests or Letters Rogatory sent by the MDMA will now be handled by the CBI. The MDMA -- initially headed by a joint director-ranked officer before being handed over to the DIG -- did not bring on record any startling revelation about the conspiracy which had tentacles in multiple countries.