Activist Teesta Setalvad was arrested by Gujarat ATS officials in Mumbai for allegedly giving false information on 2002 Gujarat riots. Setalvad is believed to be in the camp of Anti-Hindu Lefts in several years.

Upendra Bharti | HENB | New Delhi | June 25, 2022:: As per latest news, a Gujarat anti-terror squad (ATS) team on Saturday arrested activist Teesta Setalvad. She is being taken to Ahmedabad. According to the FIR, activist Teesta and two former IPS officers have been booked for allegedly giving false information about the Gujarat riots. The controversial journalist, writer and activist Setalvad is believed to be in the camp of ‘Anti-Hindu’ Lefts in several years siding with ‘Selective Secular’ and ‘Pro Islamist’ lobbies.

The Gujarat Police has also booked former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and former IPS officer RB Sreekumar along with ‘rights’ activist Teesta Setalvad in the related cases.

According to the FIR, Setalvad, through Zakia Jafri, the face of Muslim victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots, put several petitions in court and gave false information to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) head and other commissions.

“The investigation has found that false information was given through petition,” the FIR read.

The accused have been booked under sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged documents as genuine), 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of a capital offence) and other relevant sections of the IPC.

This development comes after the Supreme Court upheld the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) clean chit to 64 people, including PM Narendra Modi, in the 2002 riots case.

Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in an interview, accused Setalvad of giving baseless information about the 2002 Gujarat riots to the police.

Amit Shah also said that Setalvad had an NGO which had submitted applications to police stations against BJP workers and they were sought as truth.

The Gujarat ATS team arrived at Setalvad’s residence in Mumbai’s Juhu on Saturday and took her to Santacruz Police station in Mumbai. Later, she was arrested.

In 2018, late Congress leader Ehsan Jafri’s widow, Zakia Jafri and activist Teesta Setalvad approached the top court, saying the SC-appointed SIT did not examine all the material available, its investigation was biased, and investigators themselves should face a probe.

On Friday, the apex court, while upholding the SIT clean chit given to PM Modi, said that activist Teesta Setalvad exploited the emotions of petitioner Zakia Jafri for “ulterior motives”.

“Antecedents of Teesta Setalvad need to be reckoned with and also because she has been vindicively persecuting this lis [dispute] for her ulterior design by exploiting the emotions and sentiments of Zakia Jafri, the real victim of the circumstances,” the apex court said.

Earlier, Teesta came to news headlines many times in various controversies related to supporting Freedom of Kashmir, Islamic Bank, Reservation for Muslims and anti-NRC & CAA Shaheen Bagh Rally etc.

…

__Inputs from ANI and India Today.