Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi may not like it. But his former top cop has compiled his experiences with the BJP regime in a book
Ex-DGP of the state writes in his book: Guj govt is cruelly communal
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi may not like it. But his former top cop has compiled his experiences with the BJP regime in a book, which he calls The Diary of a Helpless Man. Former state director-general of police RB Sreekumar terms the Modi government as “cruelly communal” and its officers “sophisticated sycophants”, in a fight for victims, published in Thiruvananthapuram Friday.
“Gujarat police are the most corrupt in India. Inspectors appointed in Ahmedabad get Rs30-40 lakh a month as bribe. But the government is not bothered. This is the reason for the silent support of the police to the government’s communal leaning,” Sreekumar writes.
“My personal opinion is that we should abolish IAS and IPS posts. Where have they [officers] stood up and spoke out? They have become sophisticated sycophants. Better to give the job to locals. They are the ones who prove their mettle,” the 98-page Malayalam book reads.
He says it were officers like these who picked public prosecutors belonging to the VHP to appear in 2002 riot cases involving Muslim victims.
Sreekumar reiterates that the communal pogrom was “masterminded by the Sangh Parivar and aided by the administration”. He quotes Modi telling the police top brass not to interfere in “the Hindu retaliation” in the aftermath of Godhra on February 27, 2002. He heard the murderous mob muttering, “Ye andar ki baat hai, police hamare sath hai”.
Except Rahul Sharma and Sreekumar, everyone gave a clean chit to the Modi government in their affidavits before the Nanavati commission probing the riots, the book says. When the commission asked for a second affidavit everybody withdrew except Sreekumar, who was asked not to submit one by the DGP.
Rahul Sharma, the IPS officer who shot at a mob (killing four) to block it from attacking an orphanage with 350 inmates in Bhavnagar, has sought for a stint with the CBI. Banaskanda SP Himamshu Bhatt, who suspended a police inspector for participating in riots, was transferred immediately.
JS Rana, an IAS officer who refused as chairman of the Gujarat Road Transport Corporation to releases state buses for Modi’s Gaurav Yatra, was transferred and later forced into voluntary retirement. Even Sreekumar, 1971-cadre officer, was superseded by a junior officer to the top cop’s post after he braved warnings by his superiors against going to the Nanavati panel. The high court later found the order illegal and reinstated him as DGP on May 3, 2008, with retrospective effect from February 23, 2005.
He says Modi tried to use the intelligence department against his political rivals. Sreekumar was caught in the intra-BJP crossfire in 2002 when Modi claimed that he was in possession of an intelligence report damning former revenue minister Haren Pandya, who was later shot dead. He was also asked to tap the telephone line of former chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, the book says.
He also says that Modi’s office has a Rs5-crore phone tapping device bought from Israel.
s_don@dnaindia.net
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