Lucknow, April 24: Intelligence reports had warned about the possible presence of ISI men among the kar sevaks in Ayodhya on the day the Babri Masjid was demolished.
This was revealed by senior IPS officer Anju Gupta on Friday. She told a special CBI court in Rae Bareli that a day before the mosque was razed on December 6, 1992, the police brass had raised an alert that the ISI could send its men to disrupt law and order in Ayodhya and vitiate the country’s communal atmosphere.
But there were also reports that the kar sevaks and members of the Sangh Parivar were a bigger threat to peace and communal harmony, Gupta told the court during her cross- examination.
Gupta, who is currently a deputy inspector general posted with the Research and Analysis Wing ( RAW), was the Additional Superintendant of Police of Faizabad when the Babri Masjid was demolished. She was deployed in the personal security of BJP leader L. K. Advani on December 5 and 6, 1992.
At the court of chief judicial magistrate Gulab Singh, Gupta said the then inspector general of Faizabad, A. K. Saran, held a meeting on December 5 to discuss the next day’s situation. She was replying to a question from defence lawyer H. R. Sharma.
Sharma asked her whether Saran had spoke about intelligence inputs, warning that the Pakistani intelligence agency planned to sneak in its members in Ayodhya with explosives in an attempt to damage the mosque.
Gupta, who said she was present in the meeting for about 30 to 45 minutes, admitted that Saran had talked about the possibility of the presence of the ISI men in the crowd.
“ On the basis of intelligence inputs, he had talked about the presence of ISI men. But he had also said there were reports that the kar sevaks were a bigger threat,” she said.
One of the queries was regarding pressure on her and her husband Safi Ahsan Rizvi, a UP- cadre IPS officer of 1989 batch currently on special duty with home minister P. Chidambaram.
Gupta said: “ There is no pressure on me from any corner. I have willingly recorded my statement without any external pressure.” A 1990- batch IPS officer, Gupta had earlier deposed before the special CBI court on March 26 as a prosecution witness against Advani and other Sangh Parivar leaders.
–Agencies