Gujarat govt's destruction of 2002 riots documents criminal conspiracy: Congress

Congress today termed as a "criminal conspiracy" the Gujarat government's assertion that documents and telephone call records of the SIB pertaining to the period of 2002 communal riots in the state were destroyed in 2007.

"This is nothing short of a criminal conspiracy to see that the truth does not emerge. It clearly points out that the state government is trying to cover up the entire matter," party spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

Tewari found it a "complete travesty" that documents pertaining to a "massacre and carnage", which is under investigation of the highest court of the land and in which the "needle of suspicion is directly at the chief minister of Gujarat", gets destroyed in this manner.

Tewari's reaction came a day after the Gujarat government said that the telephone call records, registers of officers' movement and vehicle log books of the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) pertaining to the period of 2002 communal riots, were destroyed in 2007.

The Congress spokesperson said that at a time when the investigation is going on, the disappearance or destruction of the documents that would have thrown light on "why the state machine was culpable or otherwise", clearly points out that the state government was involved in the cover-up.