'02 riots intel trashed for cover-up, says ex-top cop
'02 riots intel trashed for cover-up, says ex-top cop
A Day after the Gujarat government admitted it had destroyed crucial intelligence records related to 2002 riots as per "pratcice", charges flew on Thursday it was "destruction of evidence".
The state government-appointed Nanavati-Mehta Commission and Supreme Court-appointed SIT also came under fire for not having examined these records for evidence.
IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had petitioned the state government and police brass for these documents after he was called to depose before the Nanavati Commission, said, "These are documents which would have fixed the responsibilities for acts of commission and omission by many people during the riots."
Interestingly, the state DGP, in a written response to Bhatt's demand a few weeks ago, had said these papers could cannot be shared since these were classified, something at odds with the state government counsel's statement that these documents were destroyed way back in 2007.
Bhatt said it was now up to the Commission to decide if it should pull up the government.
Special Public Prosecutor in the Godhra train attack case, J M Panchal, said the SIT had not considered these records since they were not relevant to the case. "Even the defence had not raised any demand for the records (during the trial)," he said.
The special counsel for the SIT in the riots cases, K G Menon, refused to comment, saying he was not aware of it.
Former state intelligence chief R B Sreekumar said it was "a criminal offence of destruction of evidence committed by the government".
Sreekumar said government departments have fixed various rules on preserving records and the timeframe for their disposal. "There is also a rule that whenever any case is pending, papers and records related to it have to be preserved," he claimed.
Sreekumar said he had filed a number of affidavits before the Commission based on various intelligence reports he was privy to during his stint as intelligence chief. "In the wake of these affidavits, the Nanavati Commission should have stopped the destruction of intelligence records and documents," he said, adding that a case of destruction of evidence should be registered against the those responsible for it.
Lawyer Mukul Sinha, who represents several 2002 riot victims before the Nanavati Commission, said the probe panel never called for these intelligence records and submitted its first report on the Sabarmati Express burning case without referring to these. He said since the government has appointed the Commission, it should not have destroyed the documents.
Sinha said the last term of reference for the Commission was to look into the role and conduct of Modi, his ministers and bureaucrats related to the riots cases. "Now, how can the Commission probe into this aspect without having such important records, which are material evidence in one case or the other cases?" he said.
Asked if the Commission should have asked the government to preserve the records, especially after Sreekumar's affidavits, Justice (Retired) G T Nanavati said, "I cannot comment. Presently, the Commission is recording evidence and we do not know what turn it will take."
Sinha also said that obliteration of intelligence records could have impacted the Godhra train attack case, especially because that is where it all began.
SIT chief R K Raghvan could not be contacted for his comments.
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