'Manufactured Charges' Congress on Gujarat SIT's Allegations on Ahmed Patel

Congress categorically denied and called the charges levied by Gujarat SIT on late Ahmed Patel as 'mischievous'

“SIT is dancing to the tune of its political master and will sit wherever it is told to,” said the Congress party on Thursday, 16 July, rebutting the charges levelled against the party's Ahmed Patel by the Gujarat SIT probing the claims of fabrication of evidence and conspiracy in the 2002 Gujarat riots case.

Calling it part of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “systematic strategy to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage unleashed when he was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002” the party labelled the charges as "mischievous".

The SIT probing the charges of fabrication of evidence and conspiracy linked to the 2002 Gujarat riots case filed an affidavit stating that accused activist Teesta Setalvad, former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and retired DGP R B Sreekumar were allegedly part of a "larger conspiracy" attempting "dismissal or destabilisation" of the government at that time.

The statement said that this was carried out at the "behest" of the late Ahmed Patel, who was at the time serving as the political advisor to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

The Prime Minister's political vendetta machine clearly does not even spare the departed who were his political adversaries. This SIT is dancing to the tune of its political master and will sit wherever it is told to. We know how an earlier SIT chief was rewarded with a diplomatic assignment after he had given a 'clean chit' to the chief minister.

The party's statement read

Jairam Ramesh, an MP and the current General Secretary in charge of Communications in Congress, called the investigating agencies in his statement a puppet of Modi-Shah and said that this is an attempt of vilifying a deceased person.

Giving judgment through press, in an ongoing judicial process, through puppet investigative agencies who trumpet wild allegations as supposed findings, has been the hallmark of the Modi-Shah duo's tactics for years. This is nothing but another example of the same, with the added object of vilifying a deceased person since he is obviously unable and unavailable to refute such brazen lies.

The statement further read.