NEW DELHI – In a shocking disclosure a former officer of the Indian homeministry has alleged that Indian government had orchestrated the twohigh-profile terrorist attacks which New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan-basedmilitant groups.
According to India’s Times of India (TOI) newspaper, RVS Mani, who as homeministry under-secretary signed the affidavits submitted in court in theIshrat Jahan ‘fake encounter case’, has said that Satish Verma, untilrecently a part of the Central Bureau of Investigation-SIT probe team, toldhim that both the 2001 attack on Indian parliament and the 2008 Mumbaiattacks were set up “with the objective of strengthening the counter-terrorlegislation (sic)”.
Mani has said that Verma “… narrated that the 13/12/2001 (attack onparliament) was followed by Pota (Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act)and 26/11/2008 (terrorists’ siege of Mumbai) was followed by amendment tothe UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act).”
The official has alleged Verma levelled the damaging charge while debunkingIntelligence Bureau (IB)’s inputs labelling the three killed with Ishrat inthe June 2004 encounter as Lashkar terrorists.
Contacted by TOI, Verma refused to comment. “I cannot speak to the media onsuch matters. Ask the CBI,” said the Gujarat cadre Indian Police Service(IPS) officer.
According to Mani, the charge was levelled by Verma on June 22 whilequestioning him about the two home ministry affidavits in the allegedencounter case. In his letter to the joint secretary in the urbandevelopment ministry, he accused Verma of ‘coercing’ him into signing astatement ‘at odds with the facts as he knew them’. He said Verma wantedhim to sign a statement saying that the home ministry’s first affidavit inthe Ishrat case was drafted by two IB officers.
Gujarat Police had justified the encounter citing an IB report whichclaimed that the three killed in the Ishrat case were Pakistani nationalsand part of a Lashkar module which had reached Gujarat to target thestate’s chief minister Narendra Modi.
In its first affidavit, filed in August 2009, the home ministry too citedthe IB report and objected to a CBI probe into the ‘encounter’. However, inits second affidavit, filed in September 2009, the ministry said the IBinput did not constitute conclusive proof and supported the demand for aCBI probe.
According to Mani, Verma disputed IB’s input saying the home ministry’sfirst affidavit was actually drafted by IB officer Rajinder Kumar, wholooked after IB’s operations in Gujarat at the time of the ‘Ishratencounter’ and now runs the serious risk of being charge-sheeted by CBI.