Cop heading 26/11 probe calls it quits

S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: Chief investigating officer in the 26/11 terror attack case Ramesh Mahale
resigned from the force on Thursday. Mahale, who was serving his three -month notice period, had put in his papers in February, citing work pressure as the reason.
    The chief investigator, who still has two years before retirement, deflected rumours of him joining a corporation as a legal consultant. “I am going on a vacation after Friday and will take adecision later, ” he said.
    Sources said that Mahale did not want to do the rounds of the courts like retired officers Suresh Walishetty and Ashok Duraffe. Walishetty was part of the 1993 blasts probe, while Duraffe headed the investigation that led to the arrests of 21 IM members in 2008.
    Additional buzz indicated that Mahale had resigned a day after the state transferred the murder probe of Navi Mumbai builder Sunil Lahoria to his unit. “His resignation is a loss. He was meticulous in his investigations,” said ATS chief Rakesh Maria, under whom Mahale had probed the 26/11 case.