Modi allowed Gujarat riots: Cop, Sanjiv Bhatt

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi deliberately allowed anti-Muslim riots in 2002 that killed scores of people in the state, said a senior police officer in a sworn statement to India?s Supreme Court.

In his affidavit to the apex court, Sanjiv Rajendra Bhatt, a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer accused Modi, a prominent member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of complicity in the 2002 massacre.

According to estimates by human rights groups, about 2,500 people, most of them Muslims, were hacked, beaten or burned to death in Gujarat after a suspected Muslim mob burnt alive 59 Hindu activists and pilgrims inside a train in February 2002 in Godhra.

Bhatt, a top cop in the Gujarat intelligence bureau during the riots, said that police ?blindly? followed the CM?s instructions that led to the decline of law and order in the state. He said Modi asked the police to remain ?indifferent? to the rioters.

?The effects of directions given by the Chief Minister were widely manifested in the half-hearted approach and the evident lack of determination on the part of Police while dealing with the widespread incidents of orchestrated violence during the State sponsored Gujarat bandh on 28th February 2002 and also during the weeks that followed,? read a portion of his affidavit.

The officer also claimed to be present at the closed door ?controversial? meeting that was held at Modi?s residence on February 27, 2002 night.

?As an officer serving with the State Intelligence Bureau at that relevant point of time, I was not only present at the meeting held at the residence of the Chief Minister on the night of 27.2.2002, but had also witnessed the apparent lack of firmness on parts of many Police Units while dealing with the emergent situation,? Bhatt said in his affidavit.

He also said the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) was trying to ?shield? Modi, who denies any wrongdoing in connection with the riots.

Seizing the opportunity, the Congress party said the affidavit will allow the ?praisers? of Modi to introspect their decision.

?Gujarat riots were aimed at the minority community. We hope the Supreme Court will consider Bhatt’s affidavit, I hope people who praise Modi will read this affidavit and introspect,? said Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari.

Reacting to the news, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Arun Jaitley came out in full support of Modi and said the affidavit is ?not truthful?.

?An affidavit filed by police officer is not truthful. Let the judicial mechanism look into it,? Jaitley said at a press conference.

The infamous Gujarat riots of 2002 left hundreds of Muslims dead, injured and tortured and came as a blot in the BJP rule, otherwise praised for rapid industrialisation and development. The riots followed an incident of train burning in Godhra in which Hindus returning from Ayodhya were supposedly killed by a Muslim mob.

Subject to a fierce dispute over the real responsibility, it is believed that around 1,000 supporters of prime accused Maulvi Umarjihad attacked the coach at the Godhra station and torched it killing 59 people and injuring many.