Riot cases review panel will discuss cellphone records

Gujarat police chief A K Bhargav, who also heads the committee set up to review riot cases on the orders of the Supreme Court, today said he...

Gujarat police chief A K Bhargav, who also heads the committee set up to review riot cases on the orders of the Supreme Court, today said he would consider using records of cellphone calls for investigation.

Bhargav told the The Indian Express that when the 10-member review committee meets in December, the CDs, carrying records of cellphone calls during the worst days of the riots, will be discussed. ‘‘I will discuss the issue with the officers, and if they think cellphone records can be used as additional evidence, they can obtain copies and start working on them,’’ he said. ‘‘Cellphone records cannot be taken as independent proof, so they will have to be correlated to other evidence,’’ Bhargav said.

The two CDs with more than 5 lakh entries have been lying with the Gujarat police and are now with the Nanavati-Shah riots panel. These have records of all cellphone calls made in Ahmedabad over the first five days of the riots which saw the worst massacres. Last week, an investigation by The Indian Express Staff Reporter Stavan Desai revealed for the first time details of the telephone calls. The six-part investigation also found that top police officers were in touch with some of the riot-accused; BJP MLA Maya Kodnani and VHP leader Jaideep Patel were in riot-hit areas and that top police officers knew ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was being burnt but did not do anything to help him.

Story continues below this ad

Senior Supreme Court advocate Harish Salve, amicus curiae in the riots cases, had said that if the review committee did not take note of the cellphone records it would be violating the very purpose for which it had been set up. The police chief had earlier said the CDs would be of little value as they did ‘‘not prove anything.’’

However, Joint Commissioner P.P. Pande, the head of the crime branch which had obtained the CDs from the cellphone companies, denied that his department has the CDs. ‘‘The crime branch has no such CD as part of its record. We are also searching for it, and if the DG provides a copy, I will also like to probe the phone records.’’

Panel’s concern

		• AHMEDABAD : The Indian Express reports on the cellphone records figured in the meeting of the Justice G.T. Nanavati and Justice K.G. Shah riots commission on Monday. The commission expressed concern about how the media had access to cellphone records, when the two CDs were kept sealed in its office. Government counsel Sunit Shah told the commission he would look into the matter. Meanwhile, advocate Mukul Sinha, who is appearing before the commission for the riot victims’ rights group Jan Sangharsh Manch, said he had applied for copies of the CDs.

Day after PM Modi’s visit to the town, Manipur’s Churachandpur sees violent protest

India3 hr ago

Protests in Manipur's Churachandpur turned violent as two men were arrested for damaging decorations for PM Modi's visit. The crowd demanded their release and attempted to storm the police station. The men were eventually released after a bail hearing. The incident occurred after a clash between locals and police on Thursday, but the situation had calmed down before Saturday's visit.

View all shorts

Live Blog