Rae Bareli, March 26
In what may spell fresh trouble for LK Advani in the Babri Masjid demolition case, a key witness, IPS officer Anju Gupta, today told the special CBI court here that the BJP veteran had indeed given a provocative speech on December 6, 1992, by calling upon ‘kar sevaks’ (people offering free service for some religious cause) to build the temple at the same place where the mosque stood.

Presently posted as RAW Director, Gupta, a 1990-batch officer, was the ASP, Faizabad, in 1992 and had been assigned the task of Advani’s personal security on the day of the demolition.

Gupta was the ninth prosecution witness in the long list of 84 whose statement was recorded today. The case would now come up for hearing on April 23 when cross-examination of Gupta would resume. In her statement, she told the court to have received Advani from the Faizabad border and of his being present at the Ram Katha Kunj along with a host of other BJP leaders, which was barely 150 metres away from the site.

“Kalraj Mishra, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal and Pramod Mahajan were the other leaders present at the venue,” she recalled.

According to her, Advani unequivocally declared to the frenzied crowd that the temple would be built at the same place where the 16th century mosque stood. Clearly enthused by Advani's speech, the 'kar sevaks' surged towards the site with shovels and daggers in their hands.

She also said that Sangh activists like Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambhara also made provocative speeches. Uma Bharti and Rithambara hugged each other in glee and distributed sweets as soon as the domes of the mosque came crumbling down, Gupta told the court. They also congratulated Advani and BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, she said.

Immediately after the riots in 1993, Gupta had told the Liberhan Commission as well as the CBI how Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti had expressed gladness over the demolition of the mosque.

Sources reveal that CBI Director Ashwani Kumar had reportedly written to Cabinet Secretary K Chandrashekhar requesting him to allow Gupta to appear for the important hearing.

Interestingly, the special Ayodhya court in Rae Bareilly had earlier discharged Advani on the plea that charges against him were based on mere suspicion. On the directives of the Allahabad High Court, the CBI dropped the charge of criminal conspiracy -- Sec 120-B of IPC -- in its revised chargesheet submitted before the Rae Bareilly court. The amended chargesheet contains relatively mild sections: 153-A, 153-B (propagating communal violence); 147, 149 (rioting) and 505 (spreading ill-will).

However, Gupta’s statement is crucial evidence that once again brings back Advani at par with the other guilty.

Meanwhile, armed with the testimony of a senior IPS officer in the Babri Masjid demolition case against the entire BJP top brass, the Congress today launched a frontal attack on LK Advani asking him to quit politics and face prosecution.

The BJP on its part refused to comment on the testimony saying it is a legal process that involved deposition by a number of witnesses and cross-examinations.

When asked to comment, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said: “This is the ninth witness and another 40 are remaining. There is a legal process. Therefore, based on the present legal proceedings the BJP would not like to comment.”