'SIT not soft on Modi, did our best to unravel truth'

RK Raghavan, chief of the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing some of the main cases related to the 2002 anti-Muslim Gujarat riots, on Monday said his team has done its best to "unravel the truth". HT reports.

RK Raghavan, chief of the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing some of the main cases related to the 2002 anti-Muslim Gujarat riots, on Monday said his team has done its best to "unravel the truth".

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Raghavan, a former CBI director, rubbished allegations that his team had been soft in its findings against the Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi.

The SIT chief said his team will do everything possible to assist the trial court in arriving at the truth on whether Modi and 63 other top state officials were guilty of the alleged inaction in containing the riots.

"The Special Investigation Team will give its utmost assistance to cooperate with the trial court in arriving at the truth," he said.

Raghavan was responding to queries on the Supreme Court's direction to the SIT to submit its final report on the riots cases before the concerned magistrate in Ahmedabad.

The trial court has been asked by the Supreme Court to decide whether to proceed against Modi and 63 others, which includes senior government officials for alleged inaction in the Gulberg Society massacre of February 28, 2002.

Former Congress MP Ahesan Jafri and 68 others were killed by a mob, and his widow, Zakia Jafri had moved the top court, seeking registration of a FIR against Modi and others.

The Supreme Court then referred Zakia's complaint to the SIT. Raghavan dismissed the allegations that his team being soft on Modi, terming the claims as "grossly unfair".

He declined to comment on the contents of the SIT report. He, however, said his "officers had done a good job after a lot of hard work." Raghavan said, "I will have to look at the Supreme Court order before I can give any instructions to the SIT members."

After the SIT filed its report in a sealed cover, the SC had asked senior advocate Raju Ramachandran - assisting it as an amicus curie - to analyse the SIT probe findings and file a confidential report on it.

The court passed the order after going through the reports by SIT and Ramachandran, and referred the case back to the Ahmedabad magistrate concerned to decide on the further action to be taken in the case.