According to sources they have been called to give evidence about the meeting held at the chief minister’s bungalow in Gandhinagar.
The National Commission for Minorities has summoned seven Gujarat policemen, including IPS officers Rahul Sharma, Sanjiv Bhatt and former DG of police RB Sreekumar, to give evidence in connection with the communal riots of 2002.
The policemen have been asked to appear before the commission on March 12.
Besides the three IPS officers, the commission has summoned four other policemen - EL Christian, VJ Solanki, MK Sharma and AS Kasiri.
Sources said that the commission had summoned the seven policemen to give evidence about the meeting held at the chief minister’s bungalow in Gandhinagar on February 27, 2002.
The policemen will also be questioned regarding the allegation that evidence related to the communal riots of 2002 had been tampered with and also about the
Bhatt and Sreekumar have earlier alleged that the state police had ‘tampered with evidence’ related to the riots. Bhatt has also alleged that at the meeting held at the chief minister Narendra Modi official bungalow on February 27, 2002, the CM had allegedly told senior police officials to allow the ‘Hindus to vent their anger’ over the Godhra carnage.
The commission has summoned the seven policemen on the basis of a complaint filed by a victim of the post-Godhra riots. Sources said that a riot victim, Malek Niyazbibib Bannumiyan, had stated in her complaint that it was important to know who attended the crucial meeting at the CM’s house because it had led to widespread violence against the minority community the next day.
Bannumiyan has also mentioned in her complaint that suspended Gujarat cadre IPS officer, Sanjiv Bhatt, had claimed that he had attended the meeting at the CM’s residence and should, therefore, be questioned.
When contacted, Bhatt confirmed that he had received the summons from the National Minorities Commission and that he will be present at the commission’s office at 11 am on Monday.
“I am not aware on what different aspects the commission wants to question me but I will appear before it on Monday,” he said. Sreekumar, however, will not appear before the commission on Monday.
“I will request the commission for another date for my appearance,” he said. Sreekumar also told DNA that the minorities commission had issued him summons mainly in connection with the allegations made by Malek Niyazbibib Bannumiyan in her complainant.
The four policemen - EL Christian, VJ Solanki, MK Sharma and AS Kasiri - were posted at the control room in the state intelligence department during the riots. “These policemen are directly or indirectly connected with the information the commission is seeking,” a source in the police said.
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