Modi govt. maintains silence over destruction of intelligence records of 2002 riots

Ahmedabad: The State government is maintaining stoic silence after its counsel at the GT Nanavati-Akshay Mehta Commission S B Vakil told media persons on Wednesday that crucial intelligence records of 2002 communal riots had been destroyed by the government in 2007.

Senior government officials refused to make any comment on the issue when the media persons confronted them on the issue. However, additional chief secretary (home) Balwant Singh told a local newspaper that the government wasexamining the issue and would decide to issue a clarification on the issue or not. However, Singh was did say nothing if the records had really been destroyed or were intact.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Shivanand Jha heading the State Intelligence Bureau also told the newspaper that he did not know if the records exited or had been destroyed.

Recently, senior IPS official Sanjiv Bhatt had filed an affidavit in the Supreme court stating that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had asked police officials to allow Hindus vent out their anger against Muslims at a meeting at his residence on February 27, 2002. Bhatt was working with the Intelligence Department at that time and claimed to have attended Modi's meeting.

*Bhatt had also demanded the production of the intelligence record so as to examine the role and conduct of Modi during the riots. But with the government claiming that the intelligence records had been destroyed, it would give reprieve to Modi as Bhatt's allegations could never be verified.

Meanwhile, NGO Jan Sangharsh Manch(JSM) representing the riot victims before the Nanavati-Mehta panel probing the Godhra and post-Godhra riots was contemplating to move the court against the state government destroying the crucial intelligence evidence pertaining to telephone and vehicle logbook details.

Former DGP R B Sreekumar said that the any document pertaining to an issue under judicial process needed to preserve until the completion of the judicial process.

In the present case, he said that since the issue was being investigated by Nanavati-Mehta commission as also by Special Investigation Team (SIT), Sreekumar said that the all intelligence records and evidences should have been preserved.

source: TCN