Mumbai: In what could be termed as the biggest revelation of 2023, News9Plus Investigation has tracked the murderer of Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre nearly 40 years after his brutal killing in Birmingham of United Kingdom.
Ravindra Mhatre was an Assistant Commissioner in India’s Consulate at Birmingham. On 3 February 1984, four terrorists abducted him from outside his office. The next morning, an unknown group called Kashmir Liberation Army (KLA), claimed responsibility for the abduction.
The abductors demanded the release of terrorist Maqbool Butt from New Delhi's Tihar Jail and nine others, along with one million pounds as ransom. On the evening of 5 February, a motorist found Mhatre's body with two gunshot wounds on his head. Fearing that their plan could fail any moment, the abductors had assassinated Mhatre in cold blood.
“Both the UK and India failed to bring the killer of Ravindra Mhatre to justice. That is the reason we had to step in and do their job, even if four decades later,” said Aditya Raj Kaul.
News9Plus investigation traced the killer of Ravindra Mhatre, identified as Malik Massarat, in Kotli of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
“Our investigation hit a lot of roadblocks but finally we were able to corroborate from multiple sources location and present state of the terrorist Malik Massarat who lives a shadowy life in Kotli of PoK since last 40 years. He fears even today that he would be arrested or killed for the killing he committed in 1984. Yet now that UK and Indian Government have the names, witnesses, evidence and location, the ball is in their court to act or remain a mute spectator as before”, Aditya Raj Kaul who interviewed two witnesses added.
“I can confirm that the order to kill Ravindra Mhatre was given by Amanullah Khan. He was the Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). Khan felt that Police would be able to arrest the arrest the kidnappers and that would disgrace the JKLF, hence a new identity of KLF was given to the kidnappers”, said JKLF former secretary general Shabir Chaudhary in an interview from UK.
“Masarat Iqbal was involved in this abduction. He was Amnullah Khan’s tenant. He called Amanullah Khan and told him that Police could be reaching them soon, what should we do? Amanullah Khan told him in front of me, ‘Shoot him Dead and dispose off the body’. I opposed Amanullah and told him not to kill this innocent man”, revealed Hashim Qureshi, a close associate of Amanullah Khan and India’s first hijacker of the Ganga Aircraft in 1971.
For the last few months, Indian diplomats in the United States and Canada have been receiving death threats from designated Khalistani terrorists. Death threats to our envoys cannot be taken lightly. The ongoing investigation of News9Plus began tracking the trail of intimidation. It led us to the sensational and yet unsolved murder of an Indian diplomat in the United Kingdom 40 years ago.
External affairs minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had denounced the “atmosphere of intimidation” against Indian diplomats in Canada.
News9 Plus investigation spread across months also revealed a failed attempt to assassinate a former Indian Prime Minister in the UK and a conspiracy to kill a former Indian ambassador to France in 1985-86.
“This is a story that we should all feel touched by because what happened to him could have happened to anybody. It happened to an Indian diplomat, and it happened in this country. When people think that this was just one incident, I want them to remember that this has a grave implication for the way diplomats are treated and looked after worldwide,” said Vikram Doraiswami, India’s High Commissioner to the UK.
Ravindra Mhatre’s daughter Asha D’souza wants the killers to be brought to justice. “I wouldn't advocate killing anybody, but have a trial, and then convict that person so that people know what they've done.”
Watch the two-part documentary here: https://www.news9plus.com/webseries/murder-of-an-indian-diplomat
