“They designed petitions against me, accusing me of favoring the CM. They were said to misuse central agencies to monitor my phone conversations. They were disappointed to find nothing incriminating, ”Raghavan wrote in his autobiography ‘A Road Well Traveled’.
He led the SIT formed to carry out an investigation under the supervision of the SC on allegations of complicity by Modi in communal disturbances. He claimed that the unequivocal position of the SIT on the role of the then CM was unpleasant for its adversaries. It has also contradicted claims made by IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt, who had alleged that the CM, in an official meeting late at night on February 28, 2002, had ordered the senior police officers present at the meeting not to intervene if Hindu emotions overflowed. There was no corroboration of the charge, Raghavan claimed in the book.
Raghavan recalled that Modi’s interrogation was a key event during the investigation. “At one point, we had to question Modi about the accusations made against the state administration. We let his staff know that he had to come in person to the SIT office for this purpose, and that meeting him elsewhere would be misinterpreted as a favor. He agreed to come to the SIT office inside the government compound in Gandhinagar, ”Raghavan said, adding that he took an unusual step in asking SIT member Ashok Malhotra to do the questioning. Many people were intrigued by his decision to stay away. Modi’s questioning lasted nine hours. Malhotra told me that Modi was calm throughout the session that ended late at night. He never stopped the questions, ”he said in the book.
Referring to the petition presented to the higher court by the widow of former Congressman Ehsaan Jafri Zakia Jafri, who had alleged that CM and his officials were complicit in the incident, Raghavan said that SIT investigations did not substantiate the allegation that CM was guilty.
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