The extent of state complicity in planning and
executing the genocide in Gujarat has been exposed by the courageous and
persistent struggle by victim survivors backed by citizens legal rights
groups and reinforced by the overwhelming official data that was placed in
the public domain. Two policemen stand out for performing this invaluable
service, RB Sreekumar and Rahul Sharma. The state has attempted to teach
the first a lesson, unsuccessful so far due to the mans forbearance,
sense of humour and courage. CC salutes the second while
recording in detail his significant contribution to the pursuit of truth.
Rahul Sharma
Showing rare courage, Rahul Sharma, then superintendent of
police, Bhavnagar (currently with the CBI), led his men from the front to
prevent an attack on a boarding school that housed more than 400 Muslim
children on March 1, 2002. Needless to say, he was transferred out of
Bhavnagar soon thereafter. Sharma filed an affidavit before the Nanavati-Shah
Commission in July 2002 and testified before the commission in October
2004.
His affidavit narrates the tale of collusion between
sections of the law and order machinery and communal elements from the
ruling BJP, RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal. He annexes a letter that he had
written to the then state DGP, K. Chakravarti, on March 24, 2002. This
relates to an incident that took place in Bhavnagar on March 23, 2002 when
a local madrassa was under attack by a mob, following which 21 accused
were arrested by the police.
"Following the arrest of the 21 accused in connection with
the offence, about 200 women went to the police station that very evening
along with the local leaders demanding that the accused be presented
before the magistrate immediately and well before the 24 hours that the
police could keep them in custody. The city DySP and the PI (police
inspector) of A division police station assured the leaders and the
womenfolk that they would be presented before the magistrate on the same
day."
Sharma remarks that there was something peculiar about the
entire incident. A day before (i.e. on March 22, 2002) an unfounded rumour
that some Hindu children had been kidnapped by a Muslim from the school
had caused tension that led to all business establishments being closed
down. The next day, on March 23, as things began to return to normal, a
sudden incident disrupted the tenuous calm. Sharma says he was convinced
the incident "was pre-planned and premeditated". He says in his letter
that he also feared that these antisocial elements could be operating at
the behest of some political masters who had assured them of all legal
aid, including an early release from custody. Sharma felt "it was a well
thought of plan to keep the communal issue alive till such time elections
were to be announced". (On March 21, a BJP leader told Sharma that
elections were now a "near certainty".)
In his letter to the DGP, Sharma goes on to firmly state
that "a message should not be conveyed to the public in general that you
can indulge in rioting, arson and stone pelting and can get away with it
if you know someone well enough in the government, or, worse still, it you
are acting at the behest of those persons. Such an impression about the
police would be catastrophic for the district. In Bhavnagar, till date,
there is no charge of a partisan role being played by the police."
Sharma put his foot down and insisted that the accused
would have to spend a day in the lock-up. Again, he was approached by
"some prominent political figures urging me (Sharma) to assist in securing
an early bail for the accused". Sharma did not oblige.
The affidavit puts down in detail the repeated attempts
made by politically powerful persons to attack and burn down the Akwada
Madressa in Bhavnagar and also to attack other Muslim dominated areas of
the city from March 1, 2002 onwards. Sharma states clearly that if
necessary action had not been taken and adequate use of force not been
deployed by him and his men, the number of deaths would have been enormous
and "innocent people would have lost their lives".
Concerned with placing all the facts before the
commission, Sharma has enclosed, with his affidavit, a list of persons who
died during the communal incidents, a list of persons who died or were
injured in police firing, detailed reports and records of police firings
and records of messages received and sent by wireless. Put together these
contain a minefield of information on the extent to which the political
class and sections of the bureaucracy and the police went in their
attempts to subvert the law and enact the genocide.
In his deposition before the commission, Sharma states (as
he did earlier in his affidavit) that he had recommended action against
the Sandesh newspaper for publication of inflammatory material on
February 28, 2002. He also stated that he had ordered the arrest of
Kishore Bhatt, Bhavnagars Shiv Sena chief, who was among those who made
inflammatory speeches in Bhavnagar. For his courage and for being true to
his professional calling, Sharma was transferred out of Bhavnagar to
Ahmedabad city, as DCP (control room).
In his new post he was entrusted with the work of
assisting in the investigations being conducted by the crime branch of the
Ahmedabad police commissionerate. He was specifically asked by PC Pande,
then police commissioner (CP) of Ahmedabad, to assist in the investigation
of Naroda Patiya and Gulberg Society cases which were being handled by SS
Chudasama, then assistant commissioner of police (ACP) in the Ahmedabad
Crime Branch. (Chudasama, incidentally, is one of the policemen who have
been implicated in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Kauserbi encounter cases.)
Sharma states that in all these sensitive cases, "more and more political
leaders were being involved". It was in the course of these investigations
that the joint CP (JCP) (crime branch), PP Pandey, had ordered
investigations into the telephone records.
Sharma then told the commission that on the night of May
27/28, 2002 some accused involved in the Naroda Patiya and Gulberg Society
incidents were arrested. By now, KR Kaushik had been brought in as CP,
Ahmedabad. Sharma was not kept informed of the arrests, to which he
objected. Thereafter, Kaushik issued instructions to PP Pandey that Sharma
should be kept informed. Neither Kaushik nor Sharma were happy with the
first charge sheet that was filed in the Gulberg Society case on June 3,
2002 and the CP communicated this to Pandey immediately.
The very next day, on June 4, Pandey called Sharma for a
meeting. He then called for the Naroda Patiya case papers. Sharma was
shown all the investigation papers and the JCP asked him to assess whether
the investigation was being conducted properly. Initially Sharma said he
needed time to make an assessment but Pandey insisted he should do it
right away. According to the charge sheet, the violence in Naroda took
place "because one person ran over a person of another community by a
truck, whole mob got provoked and thereafter serious incidents had
happened". (The charge sheet filed in the Gulberg Society case claimed
that the gruesome massacre was precipitated by Ahsan Jaffris firing on
the mob that had collected outside.) This did not seem convincing to Rahul
Sharma.
He stated on oath: "There was serious difference of
opinion between me and Mr Pandey and other investigating officers i.e. Mr
Vanzara and Mr Chudasama and the discussion had lasted for about two
hours
I had told them that since they were the investigating officers and
Mr Pandey was superior, it was for them to decide what to do. Whatever
difference I had was put in writing by me and handed over to Mr Kaushik by
way of a letter dated June 4, 2002." Sharma produced this letter before
the commission.
Police Commissioner Kaushik, who was not satisfied with
the charge sheet that had been filed, called Sharma about 10 or 15 days
later. He told Sharma to scrutinise the case papers of both cases
thoroughly and point out the discrepancies to him. Kaushik instructed
Pandey to send the case papers of these two cases to his office. After
Pandey had brought the case papers and produced them before Kaushik,
photocopies were prepared and they were handed over to Sharma.
Sharma then makes some startling assessments about the
case papers. He says he noticed that the FIR and the charge sheet were
mutually inconsistent. This was true of both the Gulberg massacre case as
well as the Naroda Patiya and Gaon carnage cases. Sharma states on oath
that in his assessment the firing by (Ahsan) Jaffri was not the cause for
the subsequent attack on residents of Gulberg Society. In his assessment
of the Naroda Patiya case, the incident with the truck was not the reason
for the violence that followed. Sharma says that his assessment was based
on a close reading of the FIRs and the case papers that were supplied to
him.
On July 5, 2002, Sharma was once again transferred
because, no doubt, of his honesty and candour. He could not therefore
communicate this assessment to the then CP, KR Kaushik.
Rahul Sharmas tale is one of guarded honesty before the
commission.
Dial M for murder
In October 2004, when Sharma appeared before the Nanavati-Shah
Commission and submitted two CDs with more than five lakh entries of calls
made to and from the mobile phones of Gujarats policemen, this blew the
lid off one more facet of state complicity. Despite this staggering
evidence, two-and-a-half-years later, neither the Nanavati-Shah
Commission, nor the Gujarat High Court, nor the apex court has ordered any
suo motu investigation into these revelations. Why is the Indian system so
reluctant, or lackadaisical, to pinpoint the guilty?
The CDs contain records of all cellphone calls made in
Ahmedabad over the first five days of the genocide when a city racked by
violence, witnessed some of the worst massacres. Until October 2004, these
telephone records lay with the Gujarat police.
Jaideep Patel, general secretary, Gujarat VHP
Jaideep Patel is a pathologist by profession. His name
appeared in 14 FIRs filed immediately after the Naroda massacre. He was
seen by eyewitnesses, leading and instructing mobs to attack, rape, kill
and burn. When these FIRs were clubbed with dozens of others an act
carried out by Ahmedabads notorious crime branch, under officers Tarun
Barot and DG Vanzara Patels name, as also that of the BJP MLA and
co-accused, Maya Kodnani, mysteriously disappeared.
The evidence contained in the CD could prove a nightmare
for Jaideep Patel. They contain records of all cellphone calls made in
Ahmedabad from February 25, 2002 to March 4. The records begin two days
before the horrific attack on the Sabarmati Express and include the five
dreadful days that saw the worst communal carnage in recent history.
Investigations carried out first by The Indian Express
and recently by NGOs in Gujarat and outside show that Patel was in
touch with the key riot accused, top police officers, including the police
commissioner, top government officials, and even the chief ministers
office while Naroda burned. These CDs, obtained by the crime branch of the
Ahmedabad police as far back as April 2004, now sit with the Nanavati-Shah
Commission. Although these are records of calls made, not transcripts of
actual conversations, they reveal:
Ψ How the riot accused were in constant touch with
politicians, police officers and government officials. All at a time when
the city and the state were burning, as the Narendra Modi government
looked the other way and the oppositions Congress party slumbered.
Ψ Using cellphone tower locations, the data also provides
information on the physical locations of both the caller and the
recipient.
Records show that Patel, a resident of Naroda, was in
Naroda when the massacre began. He then left for Bapunagar, which also
witnessed killings, to return to Naroda after a while. Patel was in touch
with other riot accused, Babu Bajrangi, Ashok Govind Patel, Bipin Patel
and local BJP MLA, Maya Kodnani.
Excerpts from the cellphone records of Jaideep Patel
February 27, 2002
Sabarmati Express attacked at 8.05 a.m. Bandh
called by VHP that evening. BJP backs the bandh. Patel is in touch
with senior police officials, his VHP colleagues in Delhi, state minister
of state for home, Gordhan Zadaphiya, Gujarat BJP president, Rajendrasinh
Rana.
11.09 a.m.: Patel leaves the city for Godhra.
12.48 p.m.: Patel is in Godhra. One of the first persons
he speaks to is the Ahmedabad DCP (zone V), RJ Savani, who calls him at
1.05 p.m.
2.29 p.m.: Patel receives a call from a Delhi number and
speaks for 215 seconds. The number is registered in the name of Bharatiya
Sanskriti Pratishthan, Sector-6, RK Puram, New Delhi, the VHP
headquarters.
3.30 p.m.: Patel calls state Gujarat BJP president,
Rajendrasinh Rana, and speaks for 267 seconds. At 4 p.m. the VHP calls for
a Gujarat bandh the next day. The BJP quickly declares its support.
5.00 p.m.: Patel receives a call from Bharatiya
Sanskriti Pratishthan, New Delhi, and speaks for 357 seconds.
5.07 p.m.: Patel again receives a call from this Delhi
institution.
5.14 p.m.: DCP Savani calls Patel and speaks for 117
seconds.
5.17 p.m.: DCP Savani again calls Patel.
8.03 p.m.: Patel receives a call from state minister of
state for home, Gordhan Zadaphiya, and speaks for 159 seconds.
8.39 p.m.: Patel calls Zadaphiya.
9.13 p.m.: Patel calls Zadaphiya again, this time for
just 3 seconds.
9.16 p.m.: DCP Savani calls Patel and speaks for 138
seconds.
9.20 p.m.: Patel again calls Zadaphiya and speaks for
186 seconds.
After 11.58 p.m.: Patel leaves Godhra for Ahmedabad with
the bodies of 58 persons who were killed in coach S-6 of the Sabarmati
Express.
February 28, 2002
Ahmedabad erupts. Naroda Patiya is the scene of the worst
massacre. Patel is in touch with the Naroda corporator minutes before the
massacre begins.
2.34 a.m.: Patel enters Ahmedabad with 58 bodies of the
Godhra victims, heads for Sola Civil Hospital.
9.17 a.m.: Patel calls the state health minister, Ashok
Bhatt, and 10 minutes later, leaves for Naroda.
10.11 a.m.: Patel reaches Naroda and at 10.52 a.m. calls
one Ashok Govind Patel of Naroda and speaks to him for 80 seconds.
(Ashok Govind Patel, who was in constant contact with
Jaideep Patel through that period, is a BJP corporator from Naroda and an
accused in the killing of eight persons in Naroda on February 28, 2002. He
is also a co-accused in the case in which Jaideep Patel was named as an
accused, one that was later closed by the crime branch.)
11.05 a.m.: Patel receives a call from a cellphone that
was allegedly being used by the prime accused in the Naroda Patiya
massacre, Babu Bajrangi.
(The phone is registered in the name of one Priyanka
Mahendra Pandya, B/3 Pragat Ghanshyam Society, Ranip. Records reveal that
the phone had been carried to Godhra the previous day and was located in
the Naroda area from the morning of February 28, 2002 until 8.28 p.m. that
night. When The Sunday Express, contacted Mahendra Pandya, father
of Priyanka Pandya, he said: "I have been using this cell number for more
than a year. Three years ago, it was with Babubhai (Babu Bajrangi)."
According to the police FIR, the attacks in Naroda Patiya
began at 11 a.m. and went on until 8 p.m.
11.12 a.m.: Ashok Patel calls Patel again.
11.21 a.m.: Jaideep Patel leaves for Bapunagar area.
This was one of the areas in the city that witnessed unprecedented
violence. The maximum number of deaths in private firing was reported from
this area. The area fell under DCP Savanis jurisdiction.
11.32 a.m.: Patel reaches Bapunagar and calls Zadaphiya.
11.37 a.m.: Key accused in the Naroda Patiya massacre,
Bipin Panchal alias Bipin Auto, calls Patel and speaks for 62 seconds.
11.40 a.m.: Patel calls DCP (zone IV) PB Gondia, under
whose jurisdiction Naroda Patiya and Gulberg Society fall, and speaks for
85 seconds. Seventy persons, including ex-Congress MP Ahsan Jaffri, were
killed in Gulberg.
11.52 a.m.: Patel again calls DCP Gondia and this time
speaks for 106 seconds.
11.55 a.m.: Patel calls Ashok Patel and speaks for 63
seconds.
12.01 p.m.: Ashok Patel calls back.
12.07 p.m.: Patel calls Ashok Patel and speaks for 71
seconds.
12.10 p.m.: Patel calls Naroda BJP MLA, Maya Kodnani,
and speaks for 79 seconds.
12.20 p.m.: Patel calls DCP Gondia and speaks for 42
seconds.
12.25 p.m.: Patel returns to Naroda.
12.39 p.m.: Patel returns to Bapunagar area.
12.57 p.m.: Patel receives call from the cellphone being
used by Babu Bajrangi.
1.00 p.m.: Bipin Panchal calls Patel and speaks for 86
seconds.
1.17 p.m.: Bajrangi calls again.
1.19 p.m.: Bipin Panchal calls.
1.23 p.m.: Bipin Panchal calls again.
1.43 p.m.: Bipin Panchal calls again and speaks for 72
seconds.
3.25 p.m.: Patel receives a call from the chief
ministers office and speaks for 141 seconds.
7.20 p.m.: Patel receives a call from a cellphone
registered in the name of Sanjay Bhavsar of the general administration
department, government of Gujarat, and speaks for 102 seconds.
7.24 p.m.: Bhavsar calls again.
7.28 p.m.: Patel calls Bhavsar.
7.31 p.m.: For the first time in the day, Patel calls
the CP, Ahmedabad, PC Pande, and speaks for 47 seconds.
8.29 p.m.: Patel returns to Naroda area.
9.11 p.m.: Patel receives a call from Tanmay Mehta,
personal assistant (PA) to the chief minister. The conversation lasts 209
seconds.
11.32 p.m.: State BJP president, Rajendrasinh Rana,
calls Patel and speaks for 13 seconds.
By midnight, senior police officers, including the JCP, MK
Tandon, had reached Naroda Patiya. The massacre over, survivors were being
moved to hospitals and relief camps hastily set up by the Muslim community
at Shah Alam and Dariya Khan Gummat. Meanwhile, another massacre had also
taken place in Gulberg Society. Union defence minister, George Fernandes,
arrives in town. The death toll in Ahmedabad alone was 125 and counting.
Certain key questions arise:
Ψ Why was the home minister, Gordhan Zadaphiya, in touch
with Jaideep Patel?
Ψ Why did the chief ministers office contact Jaideep
Patel?
Ψ Did the crime branch study the cellphone records before
closing the case against Patel?
Ψ Will the review panel, set up at the behest of the
Supreme Court, look into these records while scrutinising the 2,100 closed
riot cases?
Maya Kodnani, BJP MLA, Naroda
Kodnani is a practising gynaecologist whose clinic is
barely a kilometre from the site of the Naroda Patiya massacre. The BJP
MLA from Naroda, Kodnani was also named in an FIR and her name was
subsequently dropped as an accused when the FIRs were illegally clubbed.
She was seen by eyewitnesses, leading and instructing mobs to attack,
rape, kill and burn.
A study of Kodnanis cellphone, which is still in use,
reveals that like fellow accused and VHP leader Jaideep Patel, the BJP
leader too had been camping in the Naroda area until the evening of
February 28, 2002, and was in close contact with those accused in the
massacre, police officers, top politicians and VHP leaders, including the
brother of VHP international general secretary, Praveen Togadia, and other
accused from the area.
The attacks in Naroda began at 11 a.m. and went on until 8
p.m.
Excerpts from the cellphone records of Maya Kodnani
February 28, 2002
7.53 a.m.: Kodnani leaves her residence for Gandhinagar.
9.57 a.m.: Kodnani returns from Gandhinagar and heads
straight for Sola Civil Hospital.
10.37 a.m.: Kodnani calls the office of the ACP (G
Division), MT Rana, under whose jurisdiction Naroda and Meghaninagar fall.
10.39 a.m.: Kodnani calls the official cellphone of the
DCP (zone IV), PB Gondia, Ranas immediate boss.
11.23 a.m.: Kodnani leaves Sola Civil Hospital.
11.55 a.m.: Kodnani is in Shahibaug area (where she
lives) when she receives a call from Dinesh Togadia, brother of VHP
leader, Praveen Togadia, and speaks for 128 seconds.
12.10 p.m.: VHP general secretary, Jaideep Patel calls
Kodnani. Patel was also named as an accused in the Naroda massacre until
the case was closed by the police.
12.21 p.m.: Kodnani receives a call from Nimesh Patel, a
resident of Saijapur Bogha area, adjoining the Naroda Patiya locality.
Patel is one of those accused in the killing of eight persons at Naroda
village. After the call, Kodnani heads towards Naroda.
12.37 p.m.: Kodnani reaches Naroda.
12.40 p.m.: Nimesh Patel calls Kodnani.
2.10 p.m.: Kodnani receives a call from Sri Swami
Vivekanand Karnavati Charitable Trust, Maninagar, and speaks for 134
seconds.
2.33 p.m.: Kodnani receives a call from the official
residence of state education minister, Anandiben Patel, in Gandhinagar.
2.53 p.m.: Kodnani receives a call from the office of
the chief whip of the BJP legislative party.
3.31 p.m.: Kodnani receives a call from Ashok Govind
Patel of Naroda and speaks for 91 seconds. As mentioned earlier, the BJP
corporator, Ashok Patel, was a co-accused in the same case as Jaideep
Patel.
4.09 p.m.: Kodnani leaves Naroda area and heads for
Shahibaug.
4.52 p.m.: Kodnani calls the DCP (zone V), RJ Savani,
under whose jurisdiction widespread violence was reported from Bapunagar,
Odhav, Amraiwadi and Hatkeshwar areas.
4.53 p.m.: Kodnani calls DCP (zone VI), BS Jebalia,
under whose jurisdiction riots were reported from Vatwa, Danilimda and
Kagdapith areas.
4.55 p.m.: Kodnani calls the ACP (sector I), Shivanand
Jha, whose jurisdiction encompasses the western areas of the city, the
worst affected areas within his jurisdiction being Paldi, Vejalpur and
Navrangpura.
5.01 p.m.: Kodnani receives a call from Delhi.
5.46 p.m.: State BJP president, Rajendrasinh Rana calls
Kodnani.
7.03 p.m.: Nimesh Patel calls Kodnani.
According to the police FIR of the Naroda Patiya massacre
and the Naroda killings, the attacks started at 11 a.m. and went on till 8
p.m.
Gulberg Society, Chamanpura, Meghaninagar, Ahmedabad
At about 7 a.m. on February 28, 2002, a mob started to
attack the predominantly minority inhabited Gulberg Society, barely a few
kilometres from the police commissionerate. The onslaught lasted over nine
hours during which about 70 persons were massacred and 15 women were
gang-raped. Former parliamentarian from the Congress party, Ahsan Jaffri,
was among those killed. Jaffri made over 200 calls to top leaders, seeking
help. No one responded. The then CP, Ahmedabad, PC Pande visited Jaffri at
around 10.30 a.m. and convinced him not to seek refuge elsewhere along
with the 70 other Muslims who had sought shelter in his home. The attack
intensified after Pande had left.
As DCP (zone IV), PB Gondia was the DCP in charge of both
areas Meghaninagar and Naroda which together marked the most horrific
day in the post-Godhra violence. Gondias cellphone records show that he
spent a lot of time in areas outside his jurisdiction which reported
little violence. They also show that he was in constant touch with the
riot accused, including Nimesh Patel, who is accused in the Naroda
killings. He was also in touch with accused, Jaideep Patel, VHPs Gujarat
general secretary and local BJP MLA, Maya Kodnani, and state revenue
minister, Haren Pandya.
Excerpts from the cellphone records of DCP PB Gondia
February 28, 2002
10.39 a.m.: Just as DCP PB Gondia, reaches Naroda area,
he receives a call from Naroda BJP MLA, Maya Kodnani. The call lasts 57
seconds.
11.05 a.m.: Gondia calls the JCP, MK Tandons office.
11.40 a.m.: Gondia, who is in Thakkarnagar, near Naroda,
receives a call from VHP general secretary, Jaideep Patel who was
accused of leading a mob in Naroda and speaks for 86 seconds.
11.52 a.m.: Jaideep Patel calls again. They speak for
107 seconds.
11.56 a.m.: Gondia calls Tandon and immediately moves to
Naroda area.
12.20 p.m.: Jaideep Patel calls Gondia and speaks to him
for 42 seconds.
12.35 p.m.: Gondia is in Meghaninagar area (Gulberg
Society) and returns to Naroda by 12.53 p.m.
12.59 p.m.: Gondia calls the city police control room.
Gondia remains in Naroda area till 1.44 p.m. At 1.53
p.m. he is in Meghaninagar area but leaves immediately and returns to
Naroda. On the way, at 1.57 p.m., he receives a call from Tandon.
2.13 p.m.: Gondia is again in Meghaninagar area from
where he calls Nimesh Patel, an accused in the Naroda village killings.
Fifteen minutes later Gondia is in Naroda.
2.46 p.m.: Gondia returns to Meghaninagar and calls ACP
MT Rana. Within five minutes, he leaves for the police commissionerate and
reaches there by 2.55 p.m.
3.01 p.m.: Nimesh Patel calls Gondia.
3.11 p.m.: Gondia has left the police commissionerate
and heads for Revdi Bazaar, an area which does not fall under his
jurisdiction, where little violence has been reported.
3.16 p.m.: Gondia receives calls from the CP, PC Pande.
Gondia remains at Revdi Bazaar until 4.03 p.m. and at
4.12 reaches Meghaninagar area.
5.05 p.m.: Gondia receives a call from the residence of
Naroda BJP MLA, Maya Kodnani. The call lasts 81 seconds. Gondia is in
Meghaninagar area.
5.15 p.m.: ACP Rana calls Gondia and speaks to him for
101 seconds.
5.24 p.m. and 5.29 p.m.: Gondia receives calls from the
official residence of the revenue minister, Haren Pandya.
6.55 p.m.: Nimesh Patel calls Gondia.
10.06 p.m.: Gondia goes to Naroda area.
10.10 p.m.: Nimesh Patel calls Gondia.
State role
Cellphone records fill in the missing blanks. They show
that the Ahmedabad police commissioner, PC Pande received several calls
from the chief ministers office throughout the day and in the hours
leading up to their meeting. Who kept calling? Narendra Modis PA, Tanmay
Mehta, and Modis additional principal secretary, Anil Mukim.
Excerpts from the cellphone records of the CP, Ahmedabad,
PC Pande
February 27, 2002
8.53 a.m. (within an hour of the Godhra train arson):
Pande, who is at his residence, receives a call from the state minister of
state for home, Gordhan Zadaphiya.
11.05 a.m.: Pande is at his office and receives a call
from the DGP, K. Chakravarti.
11.38 a.m.: Chakravarti calls again.
12.48 p.m.: Chakravarti calls again.
1.08 p.m.: Pande calls the Ahmedabad district collector,
K. Srinivas.
1.53 p.m.: Zadaphiya calls Pande and speaks for 109
seconds.
2.59 p.m.: Pande receives a call from Tanmay Mehta,
Narendra Modis PA.
3.35 p.m.: Pande receives a call from the chief
ministers additional principal secretary, Anil Mukim.
3.36 p.m.: Pande receives a call from Mehta. Half a
minute later, Mukim calls again.
3.40 p.m.: Zadaphiya calls Pande.
3.50 p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande.
5.02 p.m.: Pande receives a call from Mukim. He returns
the call after a minute.
5.28 p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande and speaks for 107
seconds.
6.03 p.m.: Pande receives a call from Mumbai and speaks
for 154 seconds.
7.09 p.m.: Pande calls Mukim and speaks for 83 seconds.
At 7.48 p.m. and 8.14 p.m.: Pande receives two calls
from K. Srinivas.
8.26 p.m.: Pande receives a call from Sanjay Bhavsar,
officer on special duty (OSD) to the chief minister.
9.13. p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande and speaks for 52
seconds.
9.18 p.m. and 9.19 p.m.: Pande receives calls from
Zadaphiya.
9.42 p.m.: Pande has left the city for Gandhinagar and
is half way there.
February 28, 2002
12.35 a.m.: Pande returns from Gandhinagar and heads
straight for his office. He stays there until about one a.m.
8.12 a.m.: Pande is back in office and receives a call
from Chakravarti.
8.50 a.m.: Pande calls Chakravarti.
9.30 a.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande and speaks for 126
seconds.
9.44 a.m.: Pande receives a call from the JCP (sector
II), MK Tandon. Three minutes later, Pande is on his way to Sola Civil
Hospital.
10.56 a.m.: Pande returns to the police commissionerate.
11.05 a.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande. By this time mobs
have taken to the streets. According to police records, the attack on
Gulberg Society began at 7 a.m. while in Naroda Patiya it began at 11 a.m.
11.31 a.m.: Pande receives a call from Zadaphiyas
office.
11.40 a.m.: Tanmay Mehta, Narendra Modis PA, calls
Pande.
11.43 a.m.: Pande receives a call from Tandon, who has
already reached Meghaninagar area (where Gulberg Society is located).
11.56 a.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande.
12.06 p.m.: Pande calls Tandon and speaks for 75
seconds. Three minutes after this call, Tandon leaves Meghaninagar.
12.37 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande. By this time curfew has
been imposed in the city.
1.21 p.m.: Mehta calls Pande.
1.22 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande.
1.45 p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande and speaks for 116
seconds.
1.56 p.m.: Pande receives a call from the office of
state minister for water supply, Narottam Patel, and speaks for 125
seconds.
2.02 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande and speaks for 125
seconds.
2.12 p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande.
2.25 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande.
2.53 p.m.: Zadaphiya calls Pande.
3.09 p.m.: Pande receives a call from city MLA and state
health minister, Ashok Bhatt.
3.16 p.m.: Pande calls the DCP (zone IV), PB Gondia,
under whose jurisdiction the Gulberg Society and Naroda Patiya localities
fall.
3.22 p.m.: Pande receives a call from city MLA and state
energy minister, Kaushik Patel, and speaks for 60 seconds.
3.38 p.m.: Mehta calls Pande.
3.54 p.m.: Pande calls Gondia.
3.57 p.m.: Mehta calls Pande.
3.59 p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande. Minutes later,
Chakravarti is at Pandes office.
5.16 p.m.: Pande receives a call from Zadaphiya, who has
just left the police commissionerate.
5.17 p.m.: Pande receives a call from a cellphone
registered in the name of AP Patel, general administration department,
government of Gujarat.
5.50 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande.
6.31 p.m.: Pande receives a call from the official
residence of Ashok Bhatt and speaks for 232 seconds.
6.51 p.m.: Pande receives a call from Chakravarti, who
is by then at Gandhinagar.
7.09 p.m.: Pande reaches Meghaninagar area.
7.11 p.m.: Zadaphiya calls Pande.
7.26 p.m.: Mehta calls Pande.
7.31 p.m.: Pande receives a call from VHP leader and
riot accused, Jaideep Patel. Pande leaves Meghaninagar area and goes back
to his office.
8.52 p.m.: Pande calls Chakravarti and speaks for 110
seconds.
9.03 p.m.: Pande calls Anil Mukim, the chief ministers
additional principal secretary, and speaks for 229 seconds.
9.14 p.m.: Mukim calls Pande.
9.18 p.m.: Pande calls Chakravarti and speaks for 334
seconds.
10.27 p.m.: Mehta calls Pande.
Pandes memory loss before the commission
Deposing before the Nanavati-Shah Commission on August 18,
2004, former CP, Ahmedabad city, PC Pande said he only heard about the
Naroda Patiya violence at 9.30 p.m. on February 28, 2002, when "I received
information that some persons had been killed there". And it was only when
he went there at around 10 or 11 p.m. that he realised the "gravity" of
the situation.
However, by 9.30 p.m., the Naroda massacre was long over.
Eighty-three persons had already been killed and Pandes cellphone records
show that right through the afternoon, from 2.30 to 9 p.m., he was, in
fact, in regular touch with two police officers in charge of the areas
under which both Naroda Patiya and Gulberg Society fall.
During the last half hour of the massacre at Naroda, Pande
even received a call from VHP state general secretary and riot accused,
Jaideep Patel. Nevertheless, in his deposition before the Nanavati-Shah
Commission, Pande said that he had not been "receiving any information
regarding the serious incidents which followed after 2.30 p.m.".
Another point on which Pande claimed memory loss was the
meeting called by the chief minister, Narendra Modi, on the night of the
Godhra arson, hours after the VHP and the BJP had declared a bandh
for the next day.
Lies before the commission
Joint CP (sector II), Ahmedabad, MK Tandon, who was in
charge of areas that saw the worst two massacres, told the Nanavati-Shah
Commission that he only heard about the attack on Gulberg Society at 2
p.m. on February 28. This was a massacre in which 70 people were killed,
many of them burnt alive, including former Congress MP, Ahsan Jaffri. "I
was not present when the mob was being dispersed as I had gone near the
Gulberg Society at about 10.45 a.m. and then had gone to Naroda. I was in
Naroda at about 12 p.m.," he deposed.
However, records of Tandons official cellphone reveal
that between 11.34 a.m. and 12.09 p.m., he was in the Meghaninagar area
(where Gulberg Society is).
From Meghaninagar, records show, he called up the DCP in
charge of the area and the CP, PC Pande. (The attacks on Gulberg Society
began at about 7 a.m. on February 28. Top police officers maintain however
that they began much later, at about 10.30 that morning.)
He also told the commission that he only heard about the
Naroda Patiya massacre at 9.30 p.m. "I do not know when the mob entered
this Muslim locality and I also do not know if the police officials
present on the spot tried to contact me during this time. I think that
during this time, the telephone lines were jammed. I first came to know
about this incident (Naroda Patiya) at 9.30 p.m. when I was in the Gulberg
Society and immediately rushed there," he said.
But his cellphone details reveal that he was constantly in
touch with the police officers who were in direct charge of the riot hit
areas, and the police control room called him at least four times between
1.24 p.m. and 3.01 p.m.
Excerpts from the cellphone records of JCP (sector II) MK
Tandon
February 27, 2002
9.50 a.m.: Tandon receives a call from the police
control room.
10.05 a.m.: Tandon calls the police control room.
10.08 a.m.: Tandon again calls the police control room.
10.09 a.m.: Tandon calls the DCP (zone IV), PB Gondia.
Immediately, he receives a call from the DCP (zone V), RJ Savani.
10.11 a.m.: Tandon receives a call from the DCP (zone
VI), BS Jebalia.
10.12 a.m.: Savani calls Tandon.
10.17 a.m.: ACP MT Rana calls Tandon.
11.31 a.m.: Tandon reaches the commissionerate and calls
Savani and speaks for 70 seconds.
11.56 a.m.: Savani calls Tandon and speaks for 160
seconds.
12.16 p.m.: Savani calls Tandon again.
12.57 p.m.: Tandon calls Jebalia.
12.58 p.m.: Tandon calls Savani and speaks for 128
seconds.
2.59 p.m.: Savani calls Tandon.
3.18 p.m.: Tandon calls Jebalia.
3.49 p.m.: Tandon again calls Jebalia and speaks for 84
seconds. Minutes later, Tandon leaves the commissionerate and goes to
Revdi Bazaar, a communally sensitive area.
4.02 p.m.: Jebalia calls Tandon.
4.22 p.m.: Jebalia calls Tandon.
4.25 p.m.: Tandon calls Savani. Tandon goes to the New
Cloth Market where the office of the DCP (zone VI) (BS Jebalia) is also
situated.
4.39 p.m.: Tandon calls Savani.
5.20 p.m.: Tandon calls the CP, PC Pande and speaks for
104 seconds. Tandon leaves and heads towards Bapunagar and Naroda areas.
5.49 p.m.: Tandon calls Savani.
5.57 p.m.: Tandon receives a call from the police
control room.
6.05 p.m.: Rana calls Tandon. Tandon is in Rakhial area.
6.46 p.m.: Tandon reaches Bapunagar and receives a call
from Rana.
6.59 p.m.: Tandon reaches the Naroda area and calls
Gondia.
7.17 p.m.: Tandon returns to the commissionerate.
8.42 p.m.: Tandon calls Savani and speaks for 232
seconds.
8.55 p.m.: Savani calls Tandon.
9.34 p.m.: Savani calls Tandon and speaks for 481
seconds.
10.32 p.m.: Savani calls Tandon and speaks for 100
seconds.
February 28, 2002
12.00 a.m.: Savani calls Tandon. Tandon immediately
calls up then state minister of state for home, Gordhan Zadaphiya, and
speaks for 133 seconds.
Three minutes later, Savani calls Tandon and speaks for
96 seconds.
6.49 a.m.: Tandon receives a call from Delhi and speaks
for 126 seconds.
An hour later, Tandon speaks to his three DCPs, Gondia,
Savani and Jebalia, at length.
Between 9.20 a.m. and 9.36 a.m. Tandon speaks at length
with Savani and Jebalia and then speaks to the CP, PC Pande.
11.20 a.m.: Tandon calls ACP MT Rana of Meghaninagar and
Naroda areas.
11.34 a.m.: Tandon reaches Meghaninagar (where Gulberg
Society is) and calls Gondia, under whose jurisdiction both the areas
fall. Ten minutes later, he calls the CP and then makes two successive
calls to the city police control room.
12.06 p.m.: Pande calls Tandon. Three minutes later
Tandon leaves Meghaninagar area.
12.11 p.m.: Tandon reaches Naroda area.
Between 12.14 p.m. and 12.18 p.m. Tandon makes three
calls to Pande. At 12.26 p.m. he makes one call to the police control
room.
12.33 p.m.: Savani calls Tandon, after which Tandon
leaves Naroda.
12.37 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande.
12.41 p.m.: Tandon calls Rana. Tandon is travelling
through Bapunagar, Rakhial, and reaches Relief Road at 1.56 p.m. Tandon
remains in the Relief Road and Revdi Bazaar areas until about 4 p.m.
While Tandon is not in any of the riot hit areas within
his jurisdiction, his cellphone details reveal he was constantly in touch
with the DCPs, Gondia, Savani and Jebalia, the police control room, the
CP, PC Pande and the city mayor, Himmatsinh Patel, during this time. The
police control room called him at least four times between 1.24 p.m. and
3.01 p.m.
4.12 p.m.: Tandon reaches the police commissionerate.
4.28 p.m.: Tandon reaches Meghaninagar area (Gulberg
Society).
10.14 p.m.: Tandon visits Naroda area and leaves by
11.03 p.m.
Meanwhile, what did the police do when Jaffri was
desperate for help?
Excerpts of the cellphone records of officers Pande,
Tandon and Gondia have been deliberately repeated below to demonstrate how
the calls made and received by them dovetail with those of other officers
during the specific period when Ahsan Jaffri was so desperately seeking
police assistance.
DGP K. Chakravarti:
11.56 p.m.: Chakravarti calls the CP, PC Pande, and
speaks for 56 seconds.
12.18 p.m.: Chakravarti is in Gandhinagar; receives a
call from the Ahmedabad district collector, K. Srinivas, and speaks for 59
seconds.
1.06 p.m.: Srinivas calls Chakravarti.
1.43 p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande and speaks for 116
seconds.
1.48 p.m.: Chakravarti receives a call from Badruddin
Sheikh (Congress leader and then chairperson, standing committee,
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation) and speaks for 91 seconds.
2.01 p.m.: Sheikh calls Chakravarti again.
2.12 p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande and speaks for 49
seconds.
3.50 p.m.: Chakravarti reaches the city and calls his
office in Gandhinagar. (Jaffri is suspected to be dead by this time.)
3.51 p.m.: Chakravarti receives a call from the ADGP
(law & order) and speaks for 132 seconds.
3.55 p.m.: Chakravarti reaches Shahibaug and calls Pande.
CP, PC Pande
11.56 p.m.: DGP Chakravarti calls Pande.
12.06 p.m.: Pande calls JCP MK Tandon and speaks for 75
seconds.
12.37 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande. By this time, curfew has
been imposed in the city.
1.21 p.m.: Tanmay Mehta, Modis PA, calls Pande.
1.22 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande again.
1.45 p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande again and speaks for
116 seconds.
2.02 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande for the third time and
speaks for 125 seconds.
2.12 p.m.: Chakravarti calls Pande for the third time.
2.25 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande again.
2.53 p.m.: Pande receives a call from state minister of
state for home, Gordhan Zadaphiya.
3.09 p.m.: Pande receives a call from the state health
minister, Ashok Bhatt.
3.16 p.m.: Pande calls the DCP (zone IV), PB Gondia,
under whose jurisdiction the Gulberg Society and Naroda Patiya localities
fall.
3.38 p.m.: Mehta calls Pande.
3.54 p.m.: Pande calls Gondia.
3.57 p.m.: Mehta calls Pande again.
3.59 p.m.: Pande receives a fourth call from Chakravarti,
who reaches Pandes office minutes later.
Deposing before the Nanavati-Shah Commission, Pande said
Jaffri was killed between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Joint CP MK Tandon
11.58 a.m.: Tandon calls police control room and speaks
for 68 seconds. Has reached Meghaninagar, where Gulberg Society is, at
11.34 a.m.
12.06 p.m.: Pande receives a call from the CP, PC Pande.
Three minutes later, Tandon leaves Meghaninagar area.
12.11 p.m.: Tandon reaches Naroda area.
12.14-12.18 p.m.: Makes three calls to Pande and one to
the police control room at 12.26 p.m.
12.33 p.m.: Tandon leaves Naroda.
12.37 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande.
12.41 p.m.: Tandon reaches Bapunagar and calls ACP MT
Rana, under whose jurisdiction Meghaninagar and Naroda fall.
1.06 p.m.: Tandon calls DCP PB Gondia and speaks for 60
seconds. He is then in Rakhial.
1.11 p.m.: Tandon calls the city mayor, Himmatsinh
Patel, and speaks for 78 seconds.
1.22 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande and speaks for 54 seconds.
1.24 p.m.: Tandon receives a call from the police
control room.
1.51 p.m.: Tandon reaches Revdi Bazaar and Relief Road.
1.57 p.m.: Tandon calls Gondia and speaks for 98
seconds.
1.59 p.m.: Tandon receives another call from the police
control room.
2.02 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande and speaks for 124
seconds.
2.25 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande and speaks for 51 seconds.
2.52 p.m.: Tandon calls Himmatsinh Patel and speaks for
145 seconds.
2.57 p.m.: Tandon receives a third call from the police
control room.
3.01 p.m.: Tandon receives a fourth call from the police
control room.
3.30 p.m.: Tandon calls Pande and speaks for 72 seconds.
3.39 p.m.: Tandon receives a fifth call from the police
control room.
3.40 p.m.: Tandon calls his office number at the police
commissionerate.
4.12 p.m.: Tandon reaches the commissionerate.
4.28 p.m.: Tandon reaches Meghaninagar area.
DCP PB Gondia
11.52 a.m.: Gondia receives a call from VHP general
secretary and riot accused, Jaideep Patel, and speaks for 107 seconds.
11.56 a.m.: Gondia calls JCP MK Tandon, moves to Naroda
area.
12.20 p.m.: Jaideep Patel calls again and speaks for 42
seconds.
12.35 p.m.: Gondia is in Meghaninagar area, returns to
Naroda by 12.53 p.m.
12.59 p.m.: Gondia calls the police control room.
Gondia remains in Naroda area till 1.44 p.m.
At 1.53 p.m. Gondia is in Meghaninagar but returns to
Naroda almost immediately. On the way, at 1.57 p.m., he receives a call
from Tandon.
2.13 p.m.: Gondia is back in Meghaninagar from where he
calls Nimesh Patel, an accused in the Naroda killings. Fifteen minutes
later, Gondia is in Naroda.
2.46 p.m.: Gondia returns to Meghaninagar, calls ACP
Rana. Within five minutes, he leaves for the police commissionerate,
reaches by 2.55 p.m.
3.01 p.m.: Nimesh Patel calls Gondia.
3.11 p.m.: Leaves the police commissionerate but heads
for Revdi Bazaar from where little violence has been reported.
3.16 p.m.: Gondia receives a call from the CP, PC Pande.
Gondia remains at Revdi Bazaar till 4.03 and at 4.12
p.m. reaches Meghaninagar area.