Gujarat Riots Case: Ahmedabad Court Denies Bail To Teesta Setalvad, Sreekumar Accused Of 'Fabricating Evidence'

According to reports, apart from Setalvad and Sreekumar, former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt is also an accused in the case and has been arrested.

New Delhi: A sessions court in Ahmedabad denied bail to activist Teesta Setalvad and former DGP RB Sreekumar on Saturday, arrested for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in 2002 Gujarat riots cases, news agency PTI reported. According to the report, additional principal judge DD Thakkar said that both the orders are rejected.

It is to be noted that Setalvad and Sreekumar were both arrested by the city crime branch around a month back on the basis of an FIR registered against them under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence).

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to investigate the case, in its affidavit, has alleged that Setalvad and Sreekumar were part of a larger conspiracy carried out at the behest of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel in order to destabilise the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Narendra Modi.

The SIT also alleged that Setalvad was paid Rs 30 lakh at Patel’s behest soon after the Godhra train burning incident in 2002.

According to the SIT, Sreekumar was a “disgruntled government officer” who “abused the process for damning the elected representatives, bureaucracy and police administration of the whole state of Gujarat for ulterior purposes.”

According to reports, apart from Setalvad and Sreekumar, former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt is also an accused in the case and has been arrested.

The FIR against Setalvad, Sreekumar and Bhatt was filed after the Supreme Court last month dismissed the petition filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

It is to be noted that on February 8, 2012, the SIT had filed a closure report giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others, including senior government officials, saying that there was "no prosecutable evidence" against them.

The apex court on June 24 this year upheld the SIT's clean chit to Modi and 63 others.