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Rahul Sharma’s CDs are not valid evidence: Govt

In an application submitted before the Nanavati commission, the state government has bluntly stated that the telephone call data CDs were not "official" as the crime branch did not have any record of them.

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The telephone call data acquired and preserved on CDs by IPS officer Rahul Sharma have proved vital in identifying the role of politicians, bureaucrats and police officials during the riots. But the state government has refused to recognise it as the "official record" of the police department.

In an application submitted before the Nanavati commission, the state government has bluntly stated that the telephone call data CDs were not "official" as the crime branch did not have any record of them.

"The genuineness and authenticity of the said CDs and the accompanying telephone records before the commission are questionable," the government stated in a written reply filed before the Nanavati commission.

The state government had filed the reply in response to a plea by the Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) seeking cross-examination of Narendra Modi and others. The government further said that, "even if it was assumed that certain phone calls were made between police officials and by personnel from the CM's office, as suggested by a reading of the data produced by Sharma, it does not prove that conversations in fact took place between the holders of the mobile phones."

The government in fact claimed that Rahul Sharma had acquired the CDs but had not deposited them with the police department as part of the official record.

"As demanded by Rahul Sharma, the then additional commissioner of police AK Surolia instructed the then ACP, SS Chudasma, to sign two letters to get mobile call details from mobile service providers Cellforce (now Vodafone) and AT&T (now Idea)," the government stated. It further stated that Rahul Sharma did obtain the CDs but didn't share its details with any investigating officer.

However, the CDs proved vital evidence for the Supreme Court-appointed SIT and helped it nail former minister Maya Kodnani and VHP leader Jaideep Patel, apart from other accused, for their role in the riots.

Again, on the basis of the data in the CDs, the lawyer, Mukul Sinha of the Jan Sangharsh Morcha (JSM), and other NGOs contended before various inquiry forums that MK Tandon, then joint commissioner of police, and PB Gondia, then DCP, had not remained stationed in the riot prone areas of Ahmedabad.
The Nanavati commission has recently sought an explanation from the eight police officers, including Tandon and Gondia.

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