Ms Gupta was posted as BJP leader L.K. Advani’s personal security officer during the period when the BJP was bringing its supporters to Ayodhya for "kar seva" at the mosque in December 1992.
The IPS officer told the court on Friday that she had accompanied Mr Advani to a dais near the disputed structure on December 6, 1992. She told the court she could recognise 80 to 100 people who were seated on the dais by face. Ms Gupta, who testified as the ninth witness in the case, said that Mr Advani repeatedly told the crowd that a temple would be built at the disputed site.
["On December 6, 1992, Advani made a spirited speech from Ram Katha Kunj manch, barely 150-200 metres from the disputed site, which charged the people. He repeatedly said the temple would be constructed at the same site," Ms Anju Gupta was quoted by PTI as saying in her two-hour deposition before chief judicial magistrate Gulab Singh in court, from which public was kept away. She said Dr M.M. Joshi, Ms Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara also made provocative speeches.
["When the structure was being demolished, the leaders on the dais looked happy. They hugged each other, sweets were being distributed and there was an atmosphere of celebration while they were provoking ‘kar sevaks’ to demolish the structure. Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara also hugged each other and congratulated Advani and Joshi. None of the leaders present at the spot made any effort to stop the demolition," Ms Gupta was quoted as saying.]
The officer had earlier deposed before the CBI, which probed the demolition of the 16th century mosque. She had made a detailed statement on the movement and activities of various Sangh leaders, including Mr Advani, during the public meeting held just prior to the demolition. Immediately after the riots in 1993, Ms Anju Gupta had told the CBI how Mr Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Ms Uma Bharti and the rest had expressed delight over the demolition of the mosque.
In 2005, she had said, in a statement to the CBI, "No sooner had Advani arrived that the situation became tense... it worsened as he spoke. When the first, second and third domes fell, Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara hugged each other and distributed sweets... They expressed happiness by hugging Advani, Joshi and S.C. Dixit. After the domes fell, they congratulated each other."
Earlier, Ms Gupta had deposed before the Liberhan Commission also in which she had said that not even a single BJP leader, including Mr Advani, tried to stop the kar sevaks when the shrine was being demolished. Now the CBI is comparing the statement given by Ms Gupta before the court with the one she had given to the commission.
So far, eight witnesses have been examined in the case. Ms Gupta is the ninth witness in the case. It is believed that statements of 40 more witnesses will be recorded in the case. There are 49 witnesses in the case.
The first statement recorded in the case was of Hanuman Prasad on December 5, 2007 in the Rae Bareli court. He was a "munshi" posted with the local police station and he registered the FIR into the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque. The second witness to record his statement was R.K. Swami on December 13, 2007. Swami was the deputy commandant of the CRPF who was posted there at the time. The recording of Swami’s statement and further cross-examination continued till April 8, 2008. On July 8, 2008, the third witness in the case, Mohammad Aslam, recorded his statement before the court.
The fourth witness was Avdesh Upadhyaya. The statement of the fifth witness, Sanjay Khare, was recorded on February 28, 2009, and the cross-examination continued till May 16, 2009. The sixth and seventh witnesses, Ram Bahadur Mishra and Jitendra Mishra, recorded their statements on June 5, 2009 and August 27, 2009 respectively. The eighth witness in the case, whose statement was recorded on November 23, 2009, was Chandra Kishore Mishra.
[Recalling the sequence of events on that fateful day, Ms Gupta claimed on Friday that Mr Advani and other leaders had reached Ayodhya in the night of December 5. The next morning they went to Ram Katha Kunj, a single-storeyed building, whose roof was being used as a dais by the leaders to address "kar sevaks". She said that when Mr Advani and Dr Joshi reached the place, Mr Katiyar was already making a speech in which he sarcastically said, "‘Even a bird cannot flap its wings here’." Dr Joshi, she said, told the gathering that the temple would be constructed at the same site where the mosque existed, according to PTI. When she went to bring Mr Advani’s fleet of vehicles, parked near the control room, for the first time she saw people scaling the walls of the disputed structure between 11.50 am and 12 noon. "I saw some people carrying equipment used to demolish a building, like iron rods and ploughs," she said, adding that she immediately tried to contact the Ayodhya police control room on witnessing the demolition activity at the spot.
["Around 12.10 pm I gave my location to the control room and requested for force, but got no positive response. I again contacted the control room at 12.31 pm and made repeated requests," she was quoted by PTI as saying. Ms Gupta said when she came back to Ram Katha Kunj, she saw that people had already climbed the structure and were destroying it. "I saw that there was an atmosphere of excitement on the dais where the leaders were present." She said that on the basis of wireless information she informed Mr Advani that some people have entered the disputed structure and were demolishing it. "I told him that people were falling from the domes of the structure and were getting injured, on which Advani expressed concern and expressed his willingness to go to the site. But I advised him against this," she said.
[After consultations with senior officials, Ms Gupta said the BJP leader was told that it was not desirable for him to go as if there were any mishap involving him, it may make the situation spin out of control. Mr Advani then sent Ms Bharti there but she came back after some time. Ms Gupta said while the BJP and Sangh leaders continued to provoke, the people razed the structure to the ground. The first dome was demolished between 1.45 pm and 2 pm and the third and last one came down at 4.30 pm.
[She said Mr Advani asked her to arrange a telephonic talk with the then chief minister, Kalyan Singh, and the DM and SSP of Faizabad. She said she was not in a position to do so. However, the DM and SSP came to Ram Katha Kunj office after messages were sent to them and they had a closed-door meeting with Mr Advani and others. "I came to know that Advani later had a telephonic conversation with the chief minister," she said. At the end of her deposition, the defence lawyer started to cross-examine Ms Gupta. The cross-examination by the defence will be resumed on April 23.]
Amita Verma and Pramod Kumar
With Agency Inputs
Lucknow/New Delhi ,March 26: Senior IPS officer Anju Gupta, who is currently on deputation with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in New Delhi, on Friday appeared as a witness for the prosecution in the Babri Masjid demolition case before the Rae Bareli court.