Bhujbal hatched plot to desecrate statue, claims associate

Bombay Police Commissioner Subhash Chandra Malhotra on Wednesday instructed Joint Commissioner of Police Ranjit Sharma to conduct an inquiry into the firing at Ghatkopar which claimed 10 lives, following an affidavit submitted by a Congress worker, Rajendra Gupta.

In a statement, Gupta alleged that Chhagan Bhujbal, leader of the Opposition in the legislative council, had hatched the conspiracy to desecrate the bust of Dr B R Ambedkar so that the resulting violence could be used as an excuse to topple the government.

On July 9, he claimed Bhujbal had asked him to accept the responsibility of garlanding the bust with footwear, but he refused. The next day he was shocked to read that the desecration had actually been done.

The letter, carried in full in the Shiv Sena newspaper, Saamna stated, "Chhagan Bhujbal is the main conspirator behind garlanding Dr Ambedkar's statue with chappals. On July 9, at his official bungalow, A-10, he had assigned me to complete the 'task'. I refused to commit such an ugly deed. But when it happened on the midnight of July 10, I was taken aback. Now, I have decided to expose Chhagan Bhujbal's involvement in the entire conspiracy."

The letter also alleges that Bhujbal had planned to destabilise the Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra by fomenting riots in dalit pockets in the wake of the Ambedkar incident.

"I have earnestly wanted to tell the facts to the people. But I was frightened about my own and my family's safety. I was rather confused. But I want the people to know that Chhagan Bhujbal is the sole conspirator behind the act and, to save the lives of other innocent people, I am writing this letter under oath. I am writing this letter on my own free will and without any external pressure," Gupta's letter stated.

The letter claims Bhujbal took Gupta into a separate room "to discuss some work." "As I am his close confidante he told me that I have to do an important task. Bhujbal explained that, 'We have to do something to destabilise the Sena-BJP alliance. We have no future unless we fight the Sena and destabilise their government by fomenting riots in Maharashtra." Bhujbal, Gupta added, said the BJP-Sena government was anti-dalit "and we can easily exploit the dalit masses."

"After that Bhujbal asked me to leave for Shahuda on July 9, after midnight. He would provide me a car, a driver and some men. He told me about the Ramabai Ambekar Nagar along the Eastern Express highway in Ghatkopar. He wanted me to garland Dr Ambedkar's bust there with chappals and proceed to Shahada. We cannot use a local lest he gets identified," ' Bhujbal told Gupta, according to the letter.

"I was benumbed at Bhujbal's plot and left for Shahada on July 9 by Suraj Travels without informing him. I was extremely terrified and upset," Gupta's letter claims.

Gupta, a former Sena corporator from Shahada taluka of Dhule district, was a staunch Bhujbal ally. He left the Sena to join the Congress along with Bhujbal in December 1991.

There was pandemonium in the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Wednesday, with the Treasury benches demanding Bhujbal's arrest for his alleged role in the desecration of the Ambedkar statue.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi announced the allegation to the assembly, describing it as an "shocking". He urged that Gupta's affidavit be forwarded to the inquiry commission headed by Justice Gundewar which is investigating the firing and its aftermath.

With inputs from Prasanna D Zorey