Guwahati, Jan. 9: Gauhati High Court has lambasted the CID for carrying out a “shoddy” probe into the Anil Majumdar murder case.

The high court in its order passed on January 6 — a copy of which was made available to The Telegraph today — said, “From the status report (submitted by police on their investigations into the murder) it transpires that a vital lead has not been surprisingly pursued and that lead was abandoned by the CID.”

“Moreover, the commission of offence, though it occurred on March 24, 2009, the investigating agency did not succeed in booking the culprits,” Justice Subhasis Talapatra said in his order.

He directed the state government to hand over the probe to the CBI.

Mazumdar, who was the editor of Aji, an Assamese daily, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Rajgarh in the city on March 24, 2009.

His widow Malika moved court, seeking a CBI inquiry in November last year, after the over two-year CID investigation into the murder failed to make any headway.

The high court found that the investigating agency has virtually closed its investigation with the death of one of the suspects.

“That appears to be a sheer escapade and a strange way to draw curtains on the investigation,” the court order said.

The court also found certain “contradictions” in the status report submitted by the police in the court in a sealed envelope.

The contents of the status report have not been disclosed in the interests of the investigation.

“With serious concern, the court finds that the investigating agency has been traipsing for so long and definitely that can point the needle of suspicion to the role of the investigating agency, which is the CID,” the court said.

Justice Talapatra said the petitioner has reasons to lose confidence in the investigation (carried out by the CID) and directed the state government to hand over the probe to the CBI within 15 days of receipt of the court order.

Anil Majumdar’s brother Jogesh Majumdar said they had provided some clues to the police but the CID did not investigate those.

“We also suspect that a senior Assam police officer may be involved in the murder and that’s why we had sought an inquiry by a central agency such as the CBI,” he said.