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Gujarat riots: Ahmed Patel plotted conspiracy to destabilise govt, frame PM Modi, informs SIT

According to an affidavit presented before the sessions court by the police's Special Investigation Team, she was part of a "bigger plot" to depose the BJP administration in the state during the 2002 riots at the request of late Congress stalwart Ahmed Patel.

Gujarat riots 2002 Ahmed Patel plotted conspiracy to destabilise government frame Narendra Modi SIT gcw
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New Delhi, First Published Jul 16, 2022, 11:01 AM IST

The Gujarat police have denied activist Teesta Setalvad's bail application, stating that she was part of a "bigger plot" against then-Chief Minister Narendra Modi orchestrated by Congress veteran Ahmed Patel. Setalvad was one of two people detained lately by the Ahmedabad crime branch on suspicion of plotting to falsely incriminate people in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

According to an affidavit presented before the sessions court by the police's Special Investigation Team, she was part of a "bigger plot" to depose the BJP administration in the state during the 2002 riots at the request of late Congress stalwart Ahmed Patel.

Additional Sessions Judge DD Thakkar accepted the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) response on record and scheduled the bail hearing for Monday. Setalvad, along with former IPS officers RB Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt, has been detained for allegedly manufacturing evidence to frame innocent persons in Gujarat riots cases.

Also Read | 2002 riots case: Gujarat Police arrests former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, taken to Ahmedabad

"The applicant's (Setalvad's) political goal in carrying out this bigger conspiracy was to destabilise or dissolve the elected government... She received illicit financial and other incentives and rewards from a competing political party in exchange for her efforts to falsely incriminate innocent people in Gujarat," according to the SIT's affidavit.

According to the SIT, the plot was carried out at the request of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel, according to witness accounts. Ms Setalvad allegedly received 30 lakh at Ahmed Patel's request during the post-Godhra riots in 2002.

Also Read | Ex-judges, bureaucrats slam criticism of SC's observations against Setalvad; call it 'politically motivated'

The SIT further said that Setalvad met with representatives of a "prominent national party in power at the time in Delhi to incriminate names of top leaders of the BJP administration in riot cases." According to another witness, Setalvad asked a Congress leader in 2006 why the party was providing "opportunity just to Shabana and Javed" and not appointing her a Rajya Sabha member.

Last month, a day after the Supreme Court upheld the clean chit given to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in Gujarat riots case, state police arrested Setalvad.

Also Read: Activist Teesta Setalvad taken into custody for 'fabricating evidence' in Gujarat riots case

(With PTI inputs)

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