‘No input on militant attack at Babri’

Denying the defence counsel’s charges that during the crucial meeting on December 5,intelligence inputs on presence of Kashmiri militants were also shared and she was aware of such inputs,Gupta told the court: “In the meeting,threats from ISI and kar sevaks was discussed. Till the time I was present in the meeting,IG AK Sharan had talked of threats only from these two forces — ISI and kar sevaks.”

This was in line with the statement she gave during her first cross examination on April 23,that there were definite inputs that Babri Masjid could be harmed and threats was more from “kar sevaks” than from ISI members.

She said around 6.30 pm,she had left the Ram Katha Manch — on which Advani and others were present — when she was asked by the Additional SP,Faizabad,to control the riots that were spreading fast after the demolition of the structure.

This prompted the defence to nail her on her earlier statement in which she had told the court that Advani was present on the Manch till 7:55 pm.

Clarifying that her statement regarding the timing of Advani’s presence on the Manch was based on the wireless messages she received when the BJP leader had left,Gupta denied the defence charge that her statement before the court on March 26 did not tally with what she had stated in her eyewitness account to the CBI in 1993.

In response to another question by defence counsel Hari Dutt Sharma,Gupta replied that even before December 5,1992,she was aware that kar sevaks would be allowed to perform “kar seva” and “darshan” on December 6.

When grilled on her statement that “administration writ was weak” on the fateful day,Gupta,the ASP posted as a personal security officer of Advani at the time of the incident,said: “I don’t specifically remember how much force was called from outside to control crowds.”

Gupta,however,told the Chief Judicial Magistrate Gulab Singh that 20 companies of PAC were deployed for the security of the disputed structure. Adding that such details must be on record,she also failed to give a specific reply to the query that whether then DIG Uma Shanker Bajpayee was present in the intelligence meeting called on December 5,1992.

“As far as I remember,he was present,there were many people,many meetings were taking place,” she told the court. The cross-examination will continue at the special CBI court on May 15.