2002 Gujarat riots | Late Congress leader Ahmed Patel, Teesta Setalvad plotted to topple Modi govt: SIT

Just days before the Parliament reconvenes, a major political controversy has erupted.

Gujarat police have claimed that late Congress leader Ahmed Patel had hatched a conspiracy to topple the BJP government in the state after the 2002 riots.

Police investigators made the claim before a local court while opposing the bail of activist Teesta Setalvad. Gujarat Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) claimed that Setalvad was part of a "larger conspiracy" led by Ahmed Patel, a close associate of the Gandhi family.

The SIT said that Setalvad used to meet leaders of "a prominent national party in power at that time in Delhi to implicate names of senior leaders of the BJP government in riot cases". Setalvad had also demanded a Rajya Sabha seat, as per investigators.

She also received ₹30 lakhs after the 2002 riots at Ahmed Patel's behest, according to police. Setalvad has been arrested along with former IPS officers RB Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt. They have been accused of fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in 2002 riot cases.

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Setalvad was arrested in June 2022, a day after the Supreme Court upheld the clean chit given in riot-related cases to Narendra Modi, who was then Chief Minister of Gujarat.