By Sayema Sahar,
Retd. IPS officer R.B. Sreekumar who has been till now patting Sanjiv Bhatt’s back for his courage and determination to bring out the truth of 2002 carnage is suddenly at loggerheads with the officer.Mr. Sreekumar had commended Bhatt when he filed his affidavit in the Supreme Court.But why this turnaround now?
Part I
In conversation with Mr. Sreekumar:
Sayema: What was the need for you to write a letter to Nanvati Commission, so late in the day?If Sanjiv Bhatt has misinformed the commission, why didn’t you react earlier? All this while you were supporting Mr. Bhatt and all of a sudden this turn around?
Mr. Sreekumar: I was away on a holiday to Kerala, I came back on the 23rd and was for the first time informed formally that Sanjiv Bhatt in one of his statement before the commission has said that he has worked as a staff officer to me. It’s not about supporting or not supporting, it’s about truth and falsehood.
Sayema:Didn’t you commend Sanjiv Bhatt when he filed the affidavit in the Supreme Court? Why didn’t you question his silence of 7 years then? Why now?
Mr. Sreekumar: Yes I did. I was the one who filed the affidavit first, and the consequence was I was superceded.(the second part goes unanswered)
Sayema: Your statement has created gross misconception and has raised question on the credibility of Sanjiv Bhatt. You say he never attended any meeting with you except one convened by Mr. Gill.
Mr. Sreekumar: Yes that’s right.
Part II
Sanjiv Bhatt responds to the allegations leveled against him by his onetime boss and superior Mr. R.B. Sreekumar.
Mr. Sreekumar:It is not true that Bhatt has ever worked as his staff officer, since there was no such post and he had no powers to create any such post.
Sanjiv Bhatt: Your kind attention is drawn to paragraph 91(1O) of your Affidavit dated27/10/2005, filed before the Commission of Inquiry. I am reproducing therelevant portion for ease of reference:
(10) ShriSanjeev Bhatt, IPS (1988), who was Supdt. Of Police(Security) and attended many meetings convened by the higherauthorities, as Staff Officer to ShriRaiger.The inherent fallacy and contradiction in your own assertions is veryobvious and requires no further elaboration. Having served as one of yourStaff Officers during the tumultuous period of 2002, it would be againstmy personal standards of decency and professional etiquette to publiclyjoin issues with you.
Mr. Sreekumar: During his stint as the SIB chief in 2002, he had requested all the officers,including his predecessor G C Raiger and Bhatt, to file affidavits before the commission but they did not.
Sanjiv Bhatt: Your above referred letter gives the false impression that I refused to filean Affidavit before the Commission in July 2002. This is as far from thetruth as can possibly be, as you were the only officer from the StateIntelligence Bureau who was directed to file the Affidavit on behalf of theState Intelligence Bureau. As you are very well aware, for reasons knownto all of us, the Government of Gujarat or the Commission of Inquiry hasnot directed me to file an Affidavit before the Commission till date. Needless to mention, I have repeatedly requested the Commission ofInquiry to direct me to file a Comprehensive Affidavit and am still awaitingtheir response to my repeated requests.
It is important to remember that R. B. Sreekumar is the same officer who commended Sanjiv Bhatt when he filed his affidavit in the Supreme Court. If he had any question on his silence of 7 years, he could have raised his voice then, why now?
Mr. Sreekumar who has been till now patting Sanjiv Bhatt’s back for his outstanding courage and determination to bring out the truth of 2002 carnage is suddenly at loggerheads with the officer.
There are logical fallacies and contradiction, however, in Mr. Sreekumar’ sassertions. Eyebrows are bound to rise, and questions galore that remain unanswered.
Why now? What is the motivation behind? On whose behest has MrSreekumar taken this U-turn?
(The writer is a Delhi-based journalist, can be contacted on [email protected])