SIT destroyed evidence on Godhra riots: Bhatt

Ahmedabad: Against the backdrop of the Supreme Court-appointed SIT reportedly giving a clean chit to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Saturday accused the state government and the probe agency of "destroying" records related to 2002 post-Godhra riots.

In a letter written to the Nanavati Commission, Bhatt alleged the crucial records related to 2002 post-Godhra riots have been "destroyed" by Gujarat government and SIT.

"It is my genuine apprehension that relevant records have been deviously suppressed or destroyed by the government of Gujarat, as well as the SIT headed by RK Raghavan," Bhatt wrote in his letter to Justice GT Nanavati and Justice Akshay Mehta Commission probing the 2002 riots Ahmedabad.

"This has been done with the diabolical motive of shielding powerful persons from legal punishment by ensuring that crucial and relevant incriminating evidence is not brought before the courts of law," he charged.

Bhatt's allegations comes after the SIT, in its final report submitted to the magistrate court, has reportedly given a clean chit to Modi and others.

"The delay on part of the Commission in requisitioning the relevant public records and documents has, inadvertently or otherwise, facilitated the destruction of incriminating evidence against the Gujarat Chief Minister or other Ministers in his council," Bhatt alleged.

Bhatt urged the Commission to ensure that relevant records are not destroyed by the "vested interests".

"The honourable Commission is once again requested to ensure that relevant records are not destroyed by the vested interests in the administrative machinery of the state government whose own conduct is under inquiry," he stated.

Bhatt was posted as the Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence with the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) from 1999 to 2002.

Bhatt, in an affidavit before the Supreme Court, had alleged Modi, during a meeting on February 27, 2002, instructed top police officials of the state to allow the Hindus to vent their anger after the Godhra train burning incident. He had deposed before the Commission in May last year.