Naroda Gam: Defence says call records destroyed as part of conspiracy

Arguing for arraignment of former IPS officer Rahul Sharma in the 2002 Naroda Gam riots case, defence lawyer Chetan Shah today said call records of top officials in the case went missing as part of a conspiracy against the accused.

Shah told special SIT judge M K Dave that the CD went missing because it contained call details of some of the top officials in the case and could have served as vital evidence in support of those accused in the case.

He said the CD was destroyed as part of a conspiracy hatched against the accused by the then UPA government, adding that the duplicate CD did not have call details of top officials.

The matter will be heard further on April 11.

Shah was earlier asked by the court to prove how Sharma destroyed the CD, in order for the latter to be made an accused for destruction of evidence, after Shah moved an application alleging that Sharma had misplaced the original CD.

He had told the court that the CD containing important call details of state functionaries during the riots was misplaced and instead a duplicate CD was submitted on October 30, 2004 before the Nanavati Commission probing the riots.

Replying to the notice issued by the court on Shah's plea, Sharma had earlier said that it was "erroneous", an attempt to "delay the trials" and "deserves to be dismissed."