Modi,Shah tried to scuttle SIT probe: Bhatt

Senior IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Monday told the Gujarat government-appointed G T Nanavati-Akshay Mehta Commission that Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the then minister of state for Home,Amit Shah,had allegedly attempted to influence the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Teams SITs probe into the 2002 riots.

Bhatt,a DIG with the Gujarat Police,also claimed that Modi and Shah had undermined the very first writ petition related to the riots filed in the Supreme Court by artiste-activist Mallika Sarabhai and others.

Bhatt was summoned by the commission as a witness after his affidavit in which he had stated that Modi had on February 27,2002 instructed top officials to allow Hindus to vent their anger against Muslims. Alleging that the officials tried to undermine the proceedings,Bhatt said that he had provided verifiable details to the SIT.

Bhatt said that Shah tried to prevent him from revealing truths,but refused to elaborate,saying he had already provided all details to the SIT.