Togadia seeks details of his aide's "questioning" by cops

VHP leader Pravin Togadia today sought details of the crime branch police officers who, he claimed, took his aide's statement "at gun-point" last month.

Togadia has written to the city crime branch over the "questioning" of his associate Ghanshyam Charandas on January 16, a day after the the VHP leader was said to have gone missing.

In a letter addressed to Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) J K Bhatt, the VHP international working president alleged Charandas was forced to record a statement against his wishes.

Apart from seeking the names of officers who took his statement, Togadia also sought a CD of CCTV footage of the crime branch office, situated in Gaekwad Haveli area, of that day.
 

"I came to know a team of crime branch forcibly took my friend Ghanshyambhai to your office at 12:30 am on January 16 and let him go at 4:30 am after taking his statement.

"I request you to provide the footage of those CCTVs which had captured his entry and exit," Togadia wrote in the letter.

The 61-year-old doctor-turned-Hindutva leader alleged there was a conspiracy against him.

"I came to know that Ghanshyambhai was surrounded by around 15 police officers. I have learned that he was forced to give a false statement at gun-point.

"This appears like a conspiracy at the behest of someone. Ghanshyam's neighbours are also being harassed by police," Togadia claimed, and sought the details of all officers present at the crime branch that night and the names of those who questioned Charandas.

When asked about the letter, Bhatt said he was yet to go through it.

Togadia, according to the VHP, had gone "missing" on January 15 after a Rajasthan police team came to arrest him here in an old case. He was later found in an "unconscious" state and admitted to a hospital in the evening.

The next day, Togadia claimed he had gone underground as he feared police might kill him in an encounter after arresting him.

Bhatt had then strongly refuted the claim of the VHP leader, who has 'Z' plus security.

The crime branch had then claimed Togadia stayed at Charandas's house in Thaltej area after leaving the VHP office without informing any office-bearer.

Bhatt had claimed it was Charandas who took Togadia to Sardarnagar in his car in the evening of January 15, and called an ambulance after telling the operator of the '108' service that he had found an unidentified man in an unconscious state on the road.