Special Investigating Team (SIT) has revealed that the social activist Teesta Setalvad, former DGP Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt received an amount of ₹30 lakhs from the political advisor of the former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Ahmad Patel, to frame the Prime minister in order to destabilise the government.
Gujarat Police on Friday submitted an affidavit to the session court, rejecting her bail plea and also holding her accountable for being a part of the “larger conspiracy” plotted on the insistence of the Congress leader Ahmad Patel. ” The political objective of the applicant (Setalvad) while enacting this larger conspiracy was dismissal or destabilisation of the elected government….She obtained illegal financial and other benefits and rewards from rival political party in lieu of her attempts to wrongly implicate innocent persons in Gujarat” stated the SIT.
Setalvad was arrested for conspiring against the government under section 468 of the Indian Penal Code along with other charges. Section 468 is imposed on a person who forges in order to cheat. The SIT rejected the bail plea of the social activist, saying that the investigation is ongoing and she might attempt to intimidate the witness or tamper with the evidence.
In 2002, the Sabarmati Express at Godra Railway Station was set on fire, which burned 58 pilgrims, eventually followed by a riot which killed more than 1000 people in Gujarat. Teesta, along with the other two alleged conspirators, framed Narendra Modi, who was the Chief Minister of the state then, for the 2002 communal riots. 58 people, along with Mr. Modi were listed in a complaint by Zakia Jafri, wife of Ehsaan Jafri, who was one of the people killed in the riots, to fuel the riot. The Supreme Court later acquitted Mr. Modi and others in the Godra massacre case.The clean chit given to him was challenged last month by Zakira but dismissed by the court thereafter.