Kutch: Suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma
has alleged that during the 2002 riots he received a call from
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi`s office asking him to
tell his brother, IPS officer Kuldeep Sharma, to not take
action against rioters.
Pradeep, who was municipal commissioner of Jamnagar
during the 2002 post-Godhra riots and is presently in jail in
a land scam case, has made the allegation in a letter to
Special Investigation Team (SIT) chairman RK Raghavan and has
offered to depose before the agency.
His letter comes within a few days of an affidavit by
senior IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt alleging complicity on Modi`s
part in not taking prompt action during the riots.
"I had received a phone call from the Chief Minister`s
Office stating that I should ask my brother K N Sharma, then
posted as IGP Ahmedabad range, that he should abstain from
taking any proactive measures in favour of the minorities,"
Pradeep has said.
In the letter, he has expressed his readiness to reveal
before the SIT the name of the officer who had called him from
Modi`s office.
Pradeep is in jail in Bhuj for his alleged role in a land
scam in Kutch.
Pradeep`s brother Kuldeep Sharma has been fighting a legal
battle against the state government for degrading his ranking
in his annual confidential report (ACR). He recently obtained
a stay to the ACR from the Central Administrative Tribunal.
He has alleged that Modi is trying to thwart his career
prospects because when he was the state CID (crime) chief,
his actions in some cases irked the ruling BJP.
As the CID chief, he had directed submission of the first
interim probe report related to the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake
encounter case before the Supreme Court. It led to a chain of
events and several officers landed in jail.
He has said in the petition before CAT that this was not
liked by the political bosses.
Kuldeep is now on a deputation to the Central government.
PTI
