The Ahmedabad crime branch on Sunday arrested activist Teesta Setalvad, a day after she was detained in Mumbai and transferred to Gujarat.
arrest According to officials, a new case of forgery, criminal conspiracy and outrage of criminal proceedings has come in connection with.
DCP (Crime), Chaitanya Mandlik said that a day earlier, the crime branch had arrested former Gujarat DGP Sreekumar and in the process of obtaining transfer warrant for the custody of former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in connection with the FIR registered against him. Is.
He said the Crime Branch would collect documents submitted by Setalvad, Sreekumar and Bhatt to the Commission of Inquiry, Special Investigation Team (SIT) and courts as part of the probe into the 2002 communal riots cases.
Why has Setalvad been arrested now?
A day after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the clean chit given by the SIT to the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in the 2002 Godhra riots, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Saturday registered an FIR against Setalvad, Sreekumar and Bhatt. case
Setalvad, who is the secretary of the NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace, has been accused of abusing the process of law by conspiring to fabricate facts and documents, teaching witnesses and fabricating false evidence to implicate people on the basis of submissions made before the SIT. is also accused. Constituted by the Supreme Court to investigate the 2002 Gujarat riots cases and before the Justice Nanavati-Shah Commission of Inquiry.
The activist and his NGO were co-petitioners along with Zakia Jafri, wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed during the riots, in the petition filed in the Supreme Court against PM Modi and others.
What did SC say?
A three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, while upholding the Special Investigation Team’s or SIT’s 2012 clean chit to PM Modi in the Gujarat riots case, said that Setalvad, a co-petitioner in the case, had expressed Zakia’s sentiments. exploited. Jaffrey.
“All those involved in such abuse of process must stand in the dock and proceed in accordance with the law,” the judges said, adding that the appeal was filed under “somebody’s dictate”.
“Teesta Setalvad’s antecedents need to be considered and also because she is torturing the matter out of vengeance. [dispute] For his hidden designs by exploiting the feelings and emotions of Zakia Jafri, the real victim of the circumstances,” the top court said in its order.
How has Setalvad reacted?
Setalvad has alleged that his arrest was illegal and he was taken from Mumbai to Ahmedabad in a car to intimidate a “human rights lawyer”.
Describing his arrest as an “abuse of power”, he alleged that he was not allowed to speak to his lawyer.
He said, “ATS barged into my house without any warrant, snatched my phone and pushed me. Look at the wound they inflicted on me. They brought me to Ahmedabad crime branch at 6 am.”
“They came at 3 o’clock and only after my lawyer came they showed me an FIR. Is it legal to make an arrest on the basis of the FIR? Why was I not served a notice? I was illegally detained from 3 pm to 10.30 am Why was I taken in a car by ATS from Mumbai to Gujarat? To scare me? It is okay to intimidate human rights lawyers? This is abuse of power. My detention and arrest are illegal,” Setalvad alleged.
Alleging “fear for life”, he questioned why the ATS was sent to arrest him in the alleged forgery case.
“I fear for my life. I have been bullied, and abused… Why should I be sent to the ATS in a forgery case? Is this the new norm? I should be granted bail. I am a human rights person. I am an activist. This is a political matter. I am cooperating and will cooperate in all legal investigations and inquiries.”
Arrest hours after Amit Shah’s statement
Setalvad’s arrest came hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said his NGO had given baseless information about the Gujarat riots.
“I have read the judgment very carefully. The name of Teesta Setalvad is clearly mentioned in the verdict. The NGO run by her – I do not remember the name of the NGO – had given baseless information about the riots to the police. The news agency quoted Amit Shah as saying, ANI,