By TCN News,
Ahmedabad: Taking an aggressive stance, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee(GPCC) has accused the Supreme Court-appointed Special investigation Team(SIT) chief R K Raghavan of “trying to protect Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2002 riot cases’’.
Addressing media persons after the Congress Legislature Party meeting that was called to prepare the agenda to corner the state government in the forthcoming budget session of the State Assembly, Congress leaders said that the SIT was “blatantly trying to protect Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other accused in 2002 riot cases being investigated by SIT” and the state government, in turn, was offering all kind of “undue facilities.”
Narendra Modi [TCN Photo]
Later on, in a statement, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil alleged that though the Supreme Court had, on September 12, 2011, asked Raghavan to submit his report, he was allegedly delaying the task.
Pointing out that Raghavan was being paid Rs 1.5 lakh per month from the state treasury, Gohil said: “his conduct has always been suspicious”.
Stating that Raghavan was also offered all facilities by the state government during his visit to UK a few years ago, the Congress leader alleged that Raghavan was not bothered to record statement of important witnesses like former DGP R B Sreekumar and senior police officials like Rahul Sharma and Sanjiv Bhatt.
“This indicated that Raghavan is not serious about the probe’’, commented Gohil. An advocate by profession, Gohil said that while Raju Ramchandran appointed by Supreme Court as amicus curiae did lot of homework and prepared a comprehensive report in the case, Raghvan was allegedly “trying to find out loopholes to save Modi and other accused”. Gohil said that Ramchandran had pointed out in his report the presence of ministers in police control rooms, presence of IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt at the residence of CM and suggested action against CM and 61 others under the provisions of Section 153 (A), 153(B), 505 and 166 in Zakia Jafri case. “But Raghavan is still trying to save CM”, Gohil alleged.
Alleging that Raghavan was earlier associated with Ratan Tata whose Nano car project in Sanand in Gujarat had been given incentives worth thousands of crores of rupees for its Nano Car project, Gohil said: “his conduct, therefore, raises doubts in the mind of people”.