More than a witness

It was barely two months into her first posting as police officer that Anju Gupta would witness the demolition of the Babri Masjid from close range,being in charge of VVIP security at Ayodhya on December 6,1992....

It was barely two months into her first posting as police officer that Anju Gupta would witness the demolition of the Babri Masjid from close range,being in charge of VVIP security at Ayodhya on December 6,1992. In the 17 years since,while the case may have remained stuck,the officer has come a long way. However,as she deposed before a special Rae Bareli court last week against BJP leader L K Advani,Gupta closed the distance in one testimony that recalled the events of that day and Advanis role in uncompromising detail.

She told the CBI court that Advani looked euphoric and his provocative speech infused enthusiasm amongst kar sevaks. She said BJP leaders,including Advani,celebrated the demolition.

Political parties have immediately seized on the stand taken by Gupta,who is now a Director with the Cabinet Secretariat. While the BJP has questioned her testimony,even raking up the fact that she is married to a Muslim,the other parties have hailed her for nailing Advanis lies.

Going by her career graph,as she braces for the much-anticipated cross-examination on April 23,her stand doesnt come as a surprise.

The 1990-batch IPS officer,who happened to be on the spot that fateful December 6 day as ASP in Faizabad,has established herself as a tough,bold officer,not afraid to take on big names.

Hailing from Rishikesh,Gupta comes from a business family and is the second of three siblings. An M Phil in Particle Physics,she joined the service as ASP Faizabad in October 1992 and went on to serve as Superintendent of Police in Lucknow,Lalitpur,Udham Singh Nagar and Pratapgarh. She is married to 1989-batch Uttarakhand cadre IPS officer Safi Ahsan Rizvi, currently posted as Officer on Special Duty to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

It was in Pratapgarh that Gupta took on the powerful Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya,currently an MLA in the UP Assembly who still faces a slew of criminal cases. Gupta is credited with creating a gang-chart and a history sheet of Raja Bhaiyya during her stint . Having served in the UP Vigilance Department and the State Crime Records Bureau,Gupta served as a Security Advisor to the United National Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific UNESCAP between 2000 and 2005. She returned to India in 2005 and joined as SSP Meerut where she made a name for herself by cracking several crime cases.

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It was in 2006 that Gupta joined the UN Office on Drugs and Crime started working on human trafficking and also authored a book Standard Operating Procedure SOP for Police for Investigating Human Trafficking in India.

Gupta served as DIG of the Provincial Armed Constabulary in Meerut in 2007-08 before joining the Cabinet Secretariat as a Director in 2009. She was awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2007.

Mindful of the fact that her Muslim connection might now be raised,the 45-year-old officer stumped her detractors by taking an oath in the name of Maryada Purshottam Bhagwan Ram and the Constitution of India before commencing her deposition . One month from now,as she appears for cross-examination,all eyes will be back on her.