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Cop Nails Gujarat
Lie
Gujarat
Home Secretary and the government pleader wanted Additional Director General
of the state police RB Sreekumar to conceal the truth from the Nanavati-Shah
Commission inquiring into the 2002 genocide. The top cop taped the conversation.
Hartosh Singh Bal and Mahesh Langa got
the tapes. Their report
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Predatory
Posture:
Gujarat cops on the rounds during the riots ap photo |
It has long been clear
that the Gujarat government would do anything in its power to subvert the
process of justice in the state. But recent evidence suggests that the government
is capable of exceeding everyone’s worst expectations. The home secretary
of the Narendra Modi government has been tutoring and coercing witnesses
appearing before the Nanavati-Shah Commission, and when witnesses refuse
to toe the government line, action is being taken against them to ensure
others do not learn from their example. This is precisely what has led to
the supersession of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) RB Sreekumar,
whose testimony before the commission had single-handedly exposed the state
government’s failures.
On August 25, 2004,
days before Sreekumar deposed before the commission on August 31, 2004,
state Home Secretary GC Murmu and government pleader before the Nanavati-Shah
commission, Arvind Pandya, summoned Sreekumar and led him through the
line of questioning he should expect and the answers he should give. Sreekumar
secretly recorded the meeting and he has now made the recording available
to Tehelka.
The conversation
(see transcripts) reveals how the Modi government spared no effort in
tutoring every witness. In Sreekumar’s case they went through every
aspect of his likely testimony while telling him what he should and should
not say. Pandya pointed out that if he did what he was told then “on
that day, the value of the 24th report will immediately come down to zero’’.
Pandya was referring to the damning report filed by Sreekumar before the
commission on April 24, 2002 (see box: ‘Muslims perceive the system
to be hostile’) in his capacity as ADGP (Intelligence) which details
the subversion of police functioning by the political leadership.
In the course of the
conversation, Sreekumar was clearly threatened by Pandya as the home secretary
looked on, “…If you create circumstances, I give application
that I want to cross-examine you, then giving contrary opinion to the
government by you and in those circumstances if I obtained permission
from the Court, you are hostile to me and false nature, I will cross-examine
and then notice will be issued by government to you regarding integrity
and everything…’’
Murmu specifically
brought up the April 24 report and said, “They will ask you, on
points in 24/4 report that what and how you came to know this. Another
thing is that they are not doing investigation. This is not your lookout.
They will try and put in your mouth that police officers did not investigate
properly…If you report that, the question of which police station,
which officer, entire state, etc will come up. They will bring out this
for making it a story. That very carefully you have to answer.’’
He then clearly instructed
Sreekumar that “your duty is not to go too deep into the veracity,
that is, whether there was government failure, etc. You are for processing
the information, disseminating the same and thereby bringing to the notice
of relevant persons.’’ Astoundingly, Pandya then went on to
claim that “whatever brief we are giving you, we are telling every
witness”.
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