Togadia appears before riots panel

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia on Monday alleged that social activist Teesta Setalvad and Zakia Jafri, a victim of the 2002 Gujarat riots, were targeting innocent Hindus.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia on Monday alleged that social activist Teesta Setalvad and Zakia Jafri, a victim of the 2002 Gujarat riots, were targeting innocent Hindus.

HT Image

Togadia was speaking to reporters after appearing before the riots probe panel for questioning, three weeks after receiving the summons.

“I will take appropriate action against Jafri and Setalvad. This is a conspiracy to get innocents hanged,” he said.

The international general secretary of the VHP was summoned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on April 19 to probe his role in the riots after a complaint by Jafri, widow of former Congress parliamentarian Ehsan Jafri, who was among the 69 killed in the Gulburg society riots on February 28, 2002.

Setalvad has been a crusader for Gujarat riots cases.

Togadia was grilled for nearly three hours in the SIT office, even as his supporters raised ‘Jai Sree Ram’ slogans outside.

Targeting RK Raghavan, the SIT chief, for terming Jafris’ petition as ‘bible for the probe agency’, Togadia said, “You target me, but why did he (Raghavan) use the word bible?This also has to be looked into.”

According to official figures, 1,180 Muslims were killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots.