Gujarat IPS officer names Narendra Modi in 2002 riots case

Mangalore Today / PTI

Ahmedabad, April 21: In more trouble for Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case, senior Gujarat IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt, Friday, filed a petition in Supreme Court stating that stating the Chief Minister had directed the police not to take any action against the rioting mob.

 

Sanjeev Bhatt in his affidavit has alleged that Narendra Modi while attending a high-level meeting on law and order, soon after the Godhra train carnage on February 27, 2002, had directed the police officers to allow the Hindus to vent their anger against the Muslims.

"This time the situation warranted that the Muslims be taught a lesson to ensure that such incidents do not recur ever again," Bhatt quoted the Chief Minister as saying in his affidavit.

"The Chief Minister expressed the view that the emotions were running very high among the Hindus and it was imperative that they be allowed to vent out their anger."

Though it is not the first time that Modi’s name has been dragged into the controversial case, but this might certainly bring in more trouble for the Chief Minister as Bhatt claims to be present when the Chief Minister allegedly gave the controversial order to the police officers.

A1988 batch IPS officer, Bhatt was posted in the state criminal investigation department (CID) during the communal riots that followed the Godhra train carnage and is currently posted as the principal of State Reserve Police (SRP) training centre in Junagadh district.

In his petition, Sanjeev Bhatt has also cast apprehensions on the suspicious role of the Supreme Court-appointed special investigating team (SIT) probing the riots case.

The petition says that the investigating agency is not performing its duty efficiently.

Last year, Modi was questioned in two marathon sessions by the SIT in a Gujarat riots case. The CM had then said, he recalled to the extent possible the sequence of events that had taken place eight years ago.

Importantly, Bhatt was earlier questioned by the SIT after the Supreme Court asked the investigating agency to consider whether further investigation was needed against the Narendra Modi on a complaint filed by Zakia Jaffri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jaffri who was among those killed in the massacre at Gulbarg Society.

The wife of the slain Congress leader had alleged that between February and May 2002 there was a "deliberate and intentional failure" of the state government to protect the life and property of innocents.

In her complaint she had further alleged that Modi and 62 others, including his cabinet colleagues, police officials and senior bureaucrats aided and abetted the riots which left over 1,000 people dead across the state.