The SIT, in its report submitted to the claim court, has claimed that social activist Teesta Setalvad siphoned off lakhs of rupees. Apart from this, he took money from the late Congress leader and tried to bring down the Modi government of the state. Many other revelations have also been made in this report.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the 2002 Gujarat riots has made many new revelations about social activist Teesta Setalvad. On Friday, the SIT told the sessions court that Teesta Setalvad, former DGP RB Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt were involved in a conspiracy to falsely implicate the Modi government of the state and bring down the government. Late Congress leader Ahmed Patel was also behind all this.
Opposing the bail petitions filed by Setalvad and Sreekumar, the SIT filed an affidavit citing two witnesses and claimed that the conspiracy to malign Gujarat’s image was hatched at the behest of the then Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader Late Ahmed Patel. . The affidavit further states that the applicant (Setalvad) held a meeting with Ahmed Patel and took Rs 5 lakh in the first instance. The money was given by a witness at the behest of Patel.
Ahmed Patel gave money to Teesta soon after the riots, but not for relief work.
Two days later, they met at the Circuit House in Shahibagh, Ahmedabad, where they received another Rs 25 lakh from Patel, the SIT affidavit said. It was not for relief work whereas it was taken in the name of Gujarat Relief Committee. Several political leaders were present in the meeting. The SIT further claimed that Setalvad visited relief camps within a week of the Godhra train incident and held meetings with political functionaries. Four months after the riots, she secretly met Patel along with Sanjiv Bhatt at their New Delhi residence.
Javed Akhtar MP So why not me?
The SIT alleged that in 2007, the central government honored Setalvad with the Padma Shri. The probe agency accused her of making these efforts to achieve political ambitions and said that she wanted to become a Rajya Sabha member. The SIT cited a witness who claimed that Setalvad asked a political leader why Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar were made MPs and were not considered. Shabana and Javed Miyabibi got a chance? Why am I not being made a member of Rajya Sabha?
The affidavit mentions how Setalvad tried to get in touch with Vithalbhai Pandya, father of former minister Haren Pandya . He tried to persuade her to join his NGO – Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). The SIT said it prepared a complaint in Sohail Termeezil’s office. But he refused to sign it as innocents were mentioned as accused.
Claimed, the Gujarat government will have to resign within three days.
To further substantiate his claim of political motive to destabilize the state government, Setalvad’s affidavit was made after excavation of bodies of riot victims at Panchmahal’s Pandarwada in 2006. The statement was also cited. He told the media that the Gujarat government would have to resign within three days. The affidavit also mentions the alleged misappropriation of funds for personal use that came to light during the investigation of the FIR of Gulberg Society resident Firozkhan Pathan.
It claimed that Rs 63 lakh in CJP’s IDBI Bank account and Rs 88 lakh in Union Bank of India’s Sabrang Trust account were deposited and allegedly siphoned off.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has made a big disclosure in its report regarding the Gujarat riots. The police has opposed the bail plea of social activist Teesta Setalvad. The SIT on Friday said that Teesta was involved in a major conspiracy to topple the BJP government in Gujarat. The affidavit filed in the court claimed that Setalvad was involved in a major conspiracy at the behest of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel to topple the BJP government after the 2002 riots.
Additional Sessions Judge DD Thakkar took the SIT’s response on record and adjourned the hearing on the bail application till Monday. Along with Sanjeev Bhatt has been arrested. In the affidavit filed by the Special Investigation Team of Gujarat Police, it has been said that the political objective of Teesta Setalvad to carry out this big conspiracy was to topple or destabilize the elected government.
The affidavit alleged that Setalvad received illegal financial and other benefits and rewards from a rival political party of the BJP in return for his efforts to falsely implicate innocent persons.
Zafar Sareshwala had also taken the name of Ahmed Patel.
Earlier, Teesta Setalvad was also made serious allegations by his former colleague Zafar Sareshwala. Zafar had claimed in a TV channel interview that Teesta was running her agenda at the behest of the leaders of the then UPA government. Along with this, Zafar Sareshwala had also named Congress leader Ahmed Patel. Sareshwala is a former Vice Chancellor of Maulana Azad Urdu University, Hyderabad and a Muslim businessman.
Teesta collected money from foreign countries in the name of the victims: Sareshwala
accused Teesta, Zafar had said in this interview that Teesta was very interested in getting money and fame. After the riots in Gujarat, Teesta took huge amount of money from abroad in the name of the victims. But he did not use the money for any victim. In an interview given to the TV channel, Zafar claimed that Teesta neither gave a house to any victim nor paid the fees of any child. On the other hand, Zafar said that Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Siasat Hyderabad and many Muslim organizations along with his family built more than 1500 houses for the riot victims.
Reality of Teesta was revealed in 2004: Sareshwala
Zafar said in the interview that during the Gujarat riots, Teesta used to work on the instructions of Ahmed Patel in the then UPA government. Sareshwala said in an interview to the TV channel that he himself had filed a petition in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to get justice for the riot victims. Zafar claims that Teesta was merely spreading community hatred in the name of Gujarat riots. Zafar told that when he came to know about the reality of Teesta in 2004, he said that he would not allow the Taj Mahal to be built on the graves of Muslims.
DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.