Click to play videoNew Delhi: A key witness to the Babri Masjid demolition case, IPS officer Anju Gupta, on Friday deposed about BJP leader L K Advani and other Sangh Parivaar leaders presence at Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 when the mosque was brought down by Hindutva supporters.
Appearing before a CBI special court in Rae Bareli, Gupta stuck to her stand that Advani had addressed Sangh activists from a spot barely 150 metres from the mosque on December 6, 1992, the day of the demolition.
She has admitted to accompanying Advani while he was visiting various spots in the Babri premises. Anju said Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Vishu Hari Dalmiya, Pramod Mahajan, Uma Bharati, Sadhvi Rithambhara, Kalraj Mishra and Acharya Dharmendra were among others on the dias. Anju was Advani's PSO during the period and her testimony challenges Advani's claim that the demolition was spontaneous and uncontrollable and that he considers the day as the saddest day of his life.
In her statement Gupta said, "I did not see these leaders making any attempt to prevent the kar sevaks from demolishing the disputed structure. On the fall of the domes, all the said eight accused and Acharya Dharmendra etc were congratulating one another. All were expressing happiness."
Anju Gupta, a 1990-batch IPS officer who was posted as the personal security officer of senior BJP leader Advani during the period of convergence of lakhs of 'Kar Sevaks' at Ayodhya as well as the demolition of the mosque, testified as the ninth witness in the case.
Gupta, who is currently posted with R&AW in Delhi, 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 Advani, during the incident of December 6, 1992. It formed a key part of the criminal case the CBI filed against Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya and Sadhvi Ritambhara in 1993.
They were initially charged with making inflammatory speeches, inciting violence and conspiracy in the case.
The conspiracy charge was later dropped and in 2003, Advani was discharged. In July 2005, however, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court reinstated several charges against him, including provoking people into rioting and arson and creating discord among communities.
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