Even as the CBI challenges the Gujarat High Courts order clearing all the accused of murder charge in the Haren Pandya case,IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatts deposition to SIT could have given a new twist to the case,except that the latter found little evidence to support his claim. Bhatt had deposed before the SIT that he had met Pandya,the former minister of state (home),just outside CM Narendra Modis residence on the night on February 27,2002,soon after coming out of the meeting where Modi is alleged to have told police officers and bureaucrats to allow Hindus to vent their anger in the immediate aftermath of the Godhra train attack. According to Bhatts deposition,he had called Pandya from his mobile phone asking him to reach Gandhinagar as soon as possible. As Modis meeting got over,Bhatt said,he came out and met Pandya a few metres away from Modis bungalow on the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Highway. However,SIT sources said the call records of both Pandya and Bhatt do not support the latters claim. The SIT,which analysed the call records provided by IPS officer Rahul Sharma in two CDs,found that they did not indicate Pandyas presence in Gandhinagar at that hour. An SIT official told The Indian Express,Bhatt claimed he met Pandya and told him everything about the meeting,including what was discussed and who all came in. He told Pandya that the state government had asked police officers to go soft on rioters and that he (Pandya) faced danger to his life, the official quoted Bhatts deposition as saying. Bhatt was then posted as an SP with the states Intelligence Bureau. SIT sources said that going by call records,Pandyas personal mobile phones location on February 27 was in Ahmedabad throughout the day,even when Bhatt is believed to have called him between 9 pm and 10 pm. Both used more than one cellphone at that time. However,call records of Bhatts official mobile number showed its location in Ahmedabad till 7 pm after which it was unreachable. Recently,Bhatt wrote to the Nanavati Commission,seeking to depose or file an affidavit on all that he was privy to during the riots. Bhatt has also said he was arrested in October just a few days before he was going to meet top Gujarat Police officers to discuss about Pandyas murder case. He was arrested for allegedly forcing a constable to file an affidavit to corroborate his claim that he had attended Modis meeting on February 27,2002. Pandya,on his part,had deposed before the Concerned Citizens Tribunal headed by Justice V R Krishna Iyer in 2003 that the CM had held a meeting with bureaucrats,intelligence officers and police officers hours after the Godhra train attack and asked them to go slow on rioters. Pandya was shot dead on March 26,2003,at Law Garden. SIT sources said Bhatts depositions run counter to the evidence and statements collected from other police officials and riot witnesses. They also said Bhatt did not depose either before Justice Krishna Iyer or the Banerjee Commission or Nanavati Commission,despite advertisements calling for evidence. He first spoke to SIT in 2009 but when he was asked to depose about the riots,he filed a fresh application saying he did not think it was the right time to talk about the case. The same was reported to the court, the SIT officer said. Bhatt filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in April this year claiming he attended CMs meeting where he had asked police officers to let Hindus vent their anger. His claim was not taken on record by the SC. The suspended IPS officer recently filed another affidavit in the SC saying he needed formal directions to file affidavit on Modis role in the 2002 riots.
