‘Rahul Sharma’s call details not correct’

Zadaphia Claims He Wasn’t Present In City During Riots As Alleged

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:Former state home minister Gordhan Zadaphia has claimed that the 2002 riots call details furnished by top cop Rahul Sharma are not correct. He told this to the Nanavati-Mehta commission during his incamera deposition earlier this week.
Zadaphia, who is facing accusation that he was present in those areas of Ahmedabad where communal violence was on peak on February 28, 2002, has denied the charge. He claimed that he had moved around the city in his official vehicle and that the log books would indicate that he was in Gandhinagar on that day.
“I did not go to Ahmedabad on that day. If somebody is claiming that I called from my phone from Ahmedabad on February 28, it is wrong. If such claims are based on call details furnished by Rahul Sharma, the call details are not true because I was not present in Ahmedabad. So there is no question of making calls from Ahmedabad,” Zadaphia told the probe panel adding, “I believe that call details regarding me do not seem to be correct.”
The state government too has questioned the authenticity of Sharma’s CD containing mobile call details during the riots period, as original data was never brought on record of the investigating agency, city crime branch. After that, the data appeared for the first time in 2004, when IPS officer Sharma submitted a copy of the CD to the inquiry panels — Godhra commission as well as justice U C Banerjee committee.
However, Zadaphia admitted that he had talked to riots accused like Babu Bajrangi, Maya Kodnani and Bipin Panchal, but he said that he could not distinctly recall the reasons for conversation. Zadaphia also claimed that he was not part of the meeting, wherein decision was taken to bring dead bodies from Godhra to Ahmedabad. He said that he does not believe that bringing Godhra carnage victims to Ahmedabad was the reason behind the riots.
Zadaphia told the commission that he came to know about major massacres like Naroda or Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad only after the incidents were over. He said that none of the police officers informed him about them. He, however, claimed that he continued to pass on instructions to concerned cops to maintain law and order situation in the state. The Godhra commission has scheduled the cross examination of Zadaphia on January 13.