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Advani orders CBI probe into Romesh Sharma's links

Union Home Minister L K Advani today said his ministry has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the links of alleged Dawood Ibrahim 'frontman' Romesh Sharma with those in positions of power.

Talking to reporters in Sarnath, UP, Advani said the home ministry, in a letter to the CBI yesterday, has asked that such a probe be conducted expeditiously and the report be submitted to the ministry at the earliest.

The home minister said the connections of Romesh Sharma with those in politics, administration or police would be investigated to establish who all were giving him ''protection''.

However, in reply to a question, Advani described as a ''false campaign'' reports about alleged links between Delhi Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj and Sharma.

Describing Sharma as the ''frontman of Dawood Ibrahim operating in the nation's capital for several years", Advani said the don was further on the lookout for ''opportunities and instruments'' to spread lawlessness and instability in the country.

The home minister said that for several years now, people were talking about criminalisation of politics and in this context, the country had been getting information about the role of a man, originally from Bombay and now operating from Pakistan or Dubai, in creating instability in the country.

In reply to other questions, Advani expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party would do well in the coming assembly elections and come to power in at least three of the four states going to the polls.

Earlier, addressing the first session of the international seminar on 'World unity in Buddha's trinity', the main event of the ongoing 'Bauddha Mahotsav', Advani stressed that Buddhism was the strongest bond that united India to the people of south-east and far-east Asia. ''There is a great scope and, also, an equally great need for increasing socio-cultural interaction among the people of India and the Buddhist countries of Asia such as China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and others,'' he added.

UNI

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