By IANS,
New Delhi : Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat Tuesday alleged that phone records containing crucial evidence about the 2002 Gujarat riots were being destroyed and demanded an inquiry into this.
“I have been given to understand that some telecom corporations have maintained that the records of calls for that period have been destroyed,” Karat said in a letter to Communications Minister A. Raja.
Karat alleged that records of phone calls, including those made by slain Congress ex-MP Ehsan Jafri were destroyed.
“In the murder case of former member of parliament Ehsan Jafri, his call records are extremely important pieces of evidence. Eye-witnesses have stated on oath before the court that Jafri, desperate for help, called up important political functionaries, who instead of helping him, abused him before he was brutally butchered,” Karat alleged.
“The fact is that quite shortly after the violence, an inquiry commission under Justice Nanavati had been ordered. In such a situation the telephone records of top functionaries in the state are crucial for the investigation,” she said asking the minister for information on the regulations pertaining to the issue.
According to official estimates, the riots in Gujarat saw nearly 1,000 deaths, while 223 people were reported missing.