New Delhi, January 25: Deposing before a special CBI court hearing the Babri mosque demolition case, a witness today said senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani, delivered provocative speeches before the shrine was razed.
Haji Mehboob Ahmad, CBI’s 10th witness, told the court that Advani, Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharti, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das and Sadhvi Ritambhara, all BJP leaders, gave provocative speeches near the disputed site on December six, 1992.
Testifying before the chief juicial magistrate Vishnu Prasad Agarwal, he said when demolition of the mosque started, he called the prime minister’s office (PMO)and later sent telegrams to the PMO and the Supreme Court.
Ahmad said at around 10am on December 6, a cavalcade passed in front of his house, located a few yards away from the mosque.
He said he and his friends sitting in verandah of the house clearly saw Advani in the cavalcade.
The witness said when the cavalcade reached the Babri mosque, people vociferously raised slogans in favour of razing the structure.
Ahmad said this sparked panic among members of the Muslim community and he locked his house in which some 150 to 200 people were present.
He said he then went to the terrace where he saw people scaling the walls of the mosque.
Ahmad told the court he called up the PMO and even sent telegrams to the prime minister’s office and the Supreme Court later.
If required by the court, he could submit photocopies of the telegrams, he said in his deposition.
“I called up the PMO and requested to an official that I want to talk to the prime minister who said he is very busy,” Ahmad told the court.
He said between 4 pm and 5 pm the structure was completely razed to the ground.
Arson also took place at nearby houses in which 16 people were killed, he told the court.
Ahmad’s deposition will continue on February 21, the next date of hearing in the case.
On December 4 last year, the special court cleared the way for examination of witnesses in the demolition case.
It dismissed a petition filed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, VHP leader Ashok Singhal and others challenging the authority of the CBI to be the prosecuting agency in the case.
–Agencies