Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad: After the Supreme court ordered the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate Gujarat riots cases, the head of the team and CBI former director RK Raghavan has got cracking but the time lapse and lack of evidence has made his task quite an uphill one.
SIT chief RK Raghavan has arrived in Ahmedabad to carry out the Supreme Court's orders. Raghavan has to investigate the role played by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots.
The Supreme Court ordered investigations on an appeal by Zakia Jafri, the widow of one of the victims, the late MP Ehasn Jafri.
Time lapse and absence of direct evidence could mean an uphill task for the team. A task the SIT chief says they are capable of handling.
"I don't think time lapse can be a matter of concern. This is where lies the skills and objectivity of our team," said R K Raghavan, SIT chief.
The SIT is focusing on setting up a witness protection program, lessons learnt from past cases, remember: Zahira Sheikh?
"I am not going to go about it in routine manner and we will like to introduce innovations in witnesses protection since this area is rather virgin in India," Raghavan added.
While he works the plan ahead, Raghavan is also working on the setting up of special courts to try the nine cases they've already investigated.