Gujarat govt chargesheets Rahul Sharma

The Gujarat government on Saturday chargesheeted Rahul Sharma, a senior Indian Police Service officer, for failing to submit the original CDs of mobile phone records related to the 2002 communal riots to the investigating agencies.

“Sharma was served the copy of the charge sheet on Saturday,” said Gujarat government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas. Sharma has been charged on four counts under the Official Secrets Act for professional misconduct. “Sharma served as the deputy commissioner of police (control), Ahmedabad, from March 24, 2002 to July 3, 2002. He was not the investigating officer or the direct supervisory officer in the riot cases for which the compact disks were procured from cellphone service providers,” Vyas said.

Vyas said according to data received from mobile service providers, Sharma prepared CDs detailing calls by ministers, police officials and Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists during the communal violence. Sharma, currently the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Rajkot, had later given the CDs to the Nanavati Commission, the Banerjee Committee and the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team that dealt with the Godhra train mishap and the subsequent riots.

Sharma’s lawyer, Mukul Sinha, described the charges as absurd. “The charge is that Sharma had taken away the CDs. I think the allegation is absolutely absurd because he was assisting investigations and the Crime Branch had actually asked him to analyse the CDs,” Sinha said. The charge sheet came a day after the Gujarat High Court rejected Sharma’s plea seeking the grounds on which he was served the showcause notice.