Modi govt refuses to assist Banerjee

The stand-off between the state government and the Justice U.C. Banerjee committee continues, hardened perhaps by the committee’s interim report that the Sabarmati Express fire was an accident. The Narendra Modi government has bluntly refused to depute former intelligence chief R.B. Sreekumar to assist the committee set up by the Union Railway Ministry.

The committee had, last fortnight, summoned three police officers for assistance — J.K. Bhatt, Raju Bhargava, and Sreekumar. The government had agreed to depute the first two, but in Sreekumar’s place offered to send G.C. Raiger. The official reason was that Raiger, not Sreekumar, was the intelligence chief on February 27, 2002, the day more than 50 karsevaks were killed in the fire. But there may be more to it, for Sreekumar hasn’t really endeared himself to the government. In his deposition before the commission, he had stated on affidavit that the police force was bound down by political interference.

Said K.C. Kapoor, Principal Secretary in the Home department, ‘‘Bhatt and Bhargava have been permitted to assist the committee, but Sreekumar won’t do so. He was not heading the intelligence set-up when riots flared in the state. It was Raiger.’’