New Delhi:
A day after one its senior leaders was chargesheeted by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, the BJP today slammed the government, alleging that the latter was indulging in a political witch hunt.
Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley were alluding to former Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria who has been named in the CBI's supplementary chargesheet; he faces charges of murder in the Sohrabuddin case. He is the second prominent BJP leader to be charged in the case after Amit Shah, a former Gujarat minister.
Mr Jaitley cited documents which, he said, proved that the CBI was also trying to implicate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the case. He was referring to a report that NDTV first aired in 2010 which said Mr Modi's name had cropped up in an internal CBI report that asked for permission to arrest Mr Shah. The report said, "Request you to refer again to Annexures A, B and C of the arrest proposal. Especially underline the importance of Annexure C for its potential in respect of the chief minister". Annexure C was a reference to Amit Shah and the need to investigate a larger conspiracy.
"Where there was a probe, CBI said there is no evidence but where there is no evidence, they said Amit Shah is a means to reach Modi. We need to question CBI's level of professionalism," Mr Jaitley said.
He also said that the case against Mr Kataria is part of a "well-planned conspiracy".
"He (Kataria) is known for his propriety and credibility. There is not a shred of truthful evidence against him. The case is being pursued by CBI with the intention of implicating senior BJP leaders at the behest of the Congress," Mr Jaitley added.
The Congress hit back, saying that the CBI, which the BJP was slamming, also went after the relative of a former UPA minister, referring to ex-Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.
"When CBI takes action against a relative of a Congress member, then BJP thinks it is right but when CBI takes action a BJP member, then the party says the government is misusing the CBI," Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said.
With the credibility of the CBI having taken a hit recently after the Supreme Court's censure over Coal-Gate, the war of words between the BJP and the Congress is only bound to intensify.