‘Initially offered ₹5 lakh, then…’: Teesta Setalvad's ex-aide shares deets of her meet with Ahmed Patel

Pathan had said earlier this year in a tweet that he had left working with Setalvad due to ethical reasons.

A former aide of activist Teesta Setalvad – who was arrested in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots case – on Saturday gave a first-hand account of what had allegedly transpired during the former's meeting with late Congress leader Ahmed Patel following the communal violence. The late Congress veteran has been accused of hatching a conspiracy in the Gujarat riots case.

Activist Teesta Setalvad. (HT photo)

Rais Khan Pathan, who called himself a former aide of Setalvad, said Patel had handed over an amount of ₹30 lakh to her. A similar charge was made by the Gujarat Police a day ago. The special investigation team (SIT) of the Gujarat Police – which is probing Setalvad's role in the alleged conspiracy and forgery case -- in its report alleged that Setalvad had received money from Ahmed Patel and was enacting a larger conspiracy to destabilise the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government soon after the 2002 Gujarat riot.

Pathan said he was with Setalvad when she had gone to meet Patel, the political advisor of the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi, at Circuit House, days after the riots took place. During the meeting, Patel, who seemed to be aware of Setalvad's role in the riots after the Babri Masjid incident, assured her of funds from his party and other agencies across the country and overseas, Pathan said.

"Following 2002 Gujarat riots, when Ahmed Patel first called Teesta over to meet up at Circuit House, I tagged along with her. Ahmed Patel told Teesta that he was familiar with her role in the Babri Masjid riots," Pathan told news agency ANI.

"Ahmed Patel assured funds to Teesta from his own party, and from agencies across the country and overseas...Initially, an amount of ₹5 lakh was given to Teesta. Later, an amount of ₹25 lakhs was handed over to Teesta," he added.

Pathan had said earlier this year in a tweet that he had left working with Setalvad due to ethical reasons.

"In my past i had worked with Teesta Setalvad, The reason i left working with her was ethics. Now same ethics are being followed by the new age fraudsters like Rashid's & Ayub's as they pretend to work for people but the reality is quite different (sic)," Pathan had said in a tweet posted in February this year.

Meanwhile, the Congress has dismissed the charges and cited that the ruling BJP is trying to gain political mileage ahead of the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls.

Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor told reporters on Saturday that more such affidavits will be filed as the Assembly elections are nearing in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.

He also alleged that the BJP was targeting Congress leaders under a "conspiracy" to divert the attention of people in poll-bound Gujarat from its failure to resolve crucial issues.

Earlier in the day, the BJP had alleged that Gandhi was the "driving force" behind the "conspiracy" to implicate Modi in the 2002 riots case in the state.