After Setalvad, ex-DGP Sreekumar gets arrested for conspiracy

Ahmedabad: In addition to the detention of activist Teesta Setalvad on Saturday, the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) arrested required DGP R B Sreekumar. The new developments occurred a day after the Supreme Court upheld the clean chit granted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others in the 2002 Gujarat Riots case, brushing off Zakia Jafri's plea, The India Express reported.

On Saturday, DCB had filed an FIR naming Sreekumar, dismissed and jailed police officer Sanjiv Bhatt and Setalvad, charging the trio with forgery, conspiracy and other sections. The move, which charged them with IPC sections 468, 471, 194, 211, 218, and 120B, was based on a complaint by police inspector DB Barad.

Sreekumar was taken from his Ahmedabad residence on Saturday afternoon and taken to the crime branch headquarters in Gaekwad Haveli in Jamalpur, The Indian Express learned.

The FIR quotes the Supreme Court verdict on Friday. The verdict read, "At the end of the day, it appears to us that a coalesced effort of the disgruntled officials of the State of Gujarat along with others was to create a sensation by making revelations which were false to their own knowledge. The falsity of their claims had been fully exposed by the SIT after a thorough investigation. Intriguingly, the present proceedings have been pursued for the last 16 years (from submission of complaint dated 8.6.2006 running into 67 pages and then by filing protest petition dated 15.4.2013 running into 514 pages) including with the audacity to question the integrity of every functionary involved in the process of exposing the devious stratagem adopted (to borrow the submission of learned counsel for the SIT), to keep the pot boiling, obviously, for ulterior design. As a matter of fact, all those involved in such abuse of process need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law".

The top court had observed, "We find force in the argument of the respondent-State that the testimony of Mr Sanjiv Bhatt, Mr Haren Pandya and also of Mr R B Sreekumar was only to sensationalize and politicize the matters in issue, although, replete with falsehood", The Indian Express quoted.