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'Police had info on Babri demolition'

Last Updated 23 April 2010, 17:09 IST
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Gupta was personal security officer of BJP leader L K Advani when the disputed structure was demolished on December 6,1992. A 1990 batch IPS officer,Gupta, who on March 26 testified before the court as a CBI witness, was cross-examined by defence counsel in the Raebareli court on Friday.

The IPS officer, who was then posted as the assistant suprenitendent of police in Faizabad, said she had attended a review meeting convened on December 5, 1992, a day before the demolition. The then Inspector General of Faizabad zone A K Saran told the meeting, which reviewed the security situation in the wake of the presence of thousands of karsevaks in Ayodhya, that there was intelligence information that the karsevaks could try to harm the structure.

Gupta said the Faizabad police also had intelligence inputs that the Pak spy agency ISI could also try to disrupt the law and order situation taking advantage of the prevailing circumstances. The IPS officer denied that there was pressure on her to give statement on dotted lines.

Cross-examination

As Gupta’s cross-examination remained inconclusive, special judge Gulab Singh posted the matter for April 29 next when her cross-examination would continue. In her testimony on March 26 last, Gupta had said that Advani had made provocative speech and expressed joy after the structure was brought down by the karsevaks in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

She had also said that on that day Advani and other BJP and VHP leaders, including Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and Ashok Singhal, were present at the Ram Katha Kunj, which was barely 150 metres from the site.

In 2003 a CBI court had acquitted Advani on the grounds of insufficient evidence. But in 2005 based on Anju Gupta’s statement, the Allahabad High Court reinstated the charges against him.

The special Raebareli court is hearing the demolition cases in which Advani, Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and VHP leaders Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya and Sadhvi Ritambhara are the accused persons.

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(Published 23 April 2010, 13:14 IST)

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