Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government on Monday opposed the discharge application of former Director General of Police (DGP) R. B. Sreekumar, who is accused of fabricating evidence in relation to the 2002 communal riots.

During the court proceedings before Additional Sessions Judge DD Thakkar, the state government claimed that Sreekumar was part of a criminal conspiracy to create false evidence in order to secure capital punishment for innocent people in the aftermath of the Godhra riots. Activist Teesta Setalvad and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt are also co-accused in the same case. Sreekumar’s affidavits before the Nanavati Commission, investigating the 2002 Gujarat riots, were similar to Zakia Jafri’s protest petition against the SIT’s clearance of then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the government informed the court.

The Gujarat communal riots were sparked by the burning of a coach of the Sabarmati Express by a mob near Godhra station on February 27, 2002, in which 59 Karsevaks (including women and children) were burnt to death.

Sreekumar has claimed in his discharge application that no case was made against him. DeshGujarat