Ahmedabad/ Delhi:
Sanjeev Bhatt, then Rahul Sharma and now Rajnish Rai - as three of Gujarat's Indian Police Service officers claim that they are being harassed by the Narendra Modi government for cases pertaining to the 2002 riots in the state, the political war of words has also intensified.
Home Minister P Chidambaram has said that the Centre can intervene if the officers approach them. "The Gujarat issue is a matter of concern. Rules provide for the central government to take certain action. If the officer invokes the rule, certainly we will do it," Mr Chidambaram said.
A furious BJP has hit back at Mr Chidambaram. "His views are against the federal structure. The centre should not act as a big brother," senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said.
Rajnish Rai, who has for some months now been on a collision course with the state government, has filed a rejoinder with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) alleging that he was victimised by his senior officers since he had carried out an unbiased probe in the Sohrabuddin case. The CAT adjudicates in disputes and complaints with respect to recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services.
Mr Rai filed the rejoinder in the ongoing case challenging his downgrading of the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) by his then senior officers P C Pande and O P Mathur. The downgrading of the ACR, which can affect officers prospects for promotion, was stayed by the tribunal in April.
Mr Rai also alleged that Mr Pande and Mr Mathur had directed him not to record investigation details in connection with the encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati.
Mr Rai says PC Pande played an acquiescent role to the criminal conspiracy of the then Minister of State for Home Amit Shah and others who tampered with official records pertaining to the Sohrabuddin case in the office of the Criminal Investigation Department (Crime).
He further alleged that Mr Pande hid the truth from the Supreme Court by deleting facts from the draft Action Taken Reports which were uncomfortable to the state government.
Mr Rai is one of the few senior 'whistleblower' police officers who have alleged that they were targeted by the Narendra Modi government.
Sohrabuddin Sheikh was shot dead in November 2005 on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. His wife, Kauser Bi, was killed a few days later. At the time, Gujarat's Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) said that Sohrabuddin was a terrorist who planned to assassinate Modi. In 2007, the Gujarat state government admitted in court that Sohrabuddin and Kauser Bi had been wrongly killed. Some of the state's senior-most policemen are in jail, charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, and kidnapping.
(Read: Who was Sohrabuddin Sheikh?)Sources have told NDTV that the state government could soon file a charge-sheet against IPS officer Rahul Sharma, who was served a showcause notice in February this year. The Modi government has charged Mr Sharma with giving call record details related to the 2002 post-Godhra riots to the Nanavati Commission without informing the government.
(Read: Gujarat riots - Narendra Modi govt targets another whistleblower cop?)The Gujarat High Court today rejected the writ petition of Mr Sharma. He had moved court asking why documents were not been given to him which could help his defence in replying to a show-cause notice served to him by the state government in connection with the Gujarat riots.
Earlier this week, the Gujarat government suspended police officer Sanjeev Bhatt. The 1988-batch IPS officer was served a five-page suspension letter by the state Home Department, charging him with unauthorised absence.
Mr Bhatt's suspension order came just three days after he told the Supreme Court that the state government, which is meant to prosecute those accused of the communal riots of 2002, has actually been leaking information for use in their defence.