Nanavati panel asks Govt to reply on plea for phone data analysis

Ahmedabad, Aug 1 (UNI) The Nanavati-Shah Commission today asked the Gujarat government to reply within three weeks to a plea requesting analysis of mobile phone data of 42 persons, including Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several top police officials, that had been submitted to the Commission in two CDs by then Bhavnagar SP, Rahul Sharma.

Those named in the plea include the Chief Minister, Ministers Ashok Bhatt, I K Jadeja, Govardhan Zadaphia, former DGP K Chakravarthy, Mr P C Pandey, then Police Commissioner, Ahmedabad, and VHP leader Praveen Togadia, apart from the two accused in the Naroda Patiya case - Babu Bajrangi and Nandalal Bajrangi.

The Commission, which is inquiring into the Sabarmati Express carnage and the Gujarat riots of 2002, has posted the next date of hearing on August 21.

The NGO, Jan Sangharsh Manch had earlier sought analysis of the complete data on the CDs, about all mobile phone calls made during the period between February 27 and March 7, 2002, when communal riots were at their peak soon after the Sabarmati Express carnage, to bring out the role of any minsiter or VHP/Bajrang Dal leader.

Mr Sharma had submitted these CDs during his cross-examination before the Commission in 2004, and had said police had collected data from AT&T and CelForce, the only two mobile companies operating in 2002 in Gujarat.

Dr Mukul Sinha, advocate for the Manch said, ''As the data on the CDs were voluminous, we have requested the Commission to limit the processing to specific persons.'' Government counsel Arvind Pandya said the Government will have to check with the service provider, if the data can be analysed without disturbing the confidentiality rights of the consumers.

UNI MMG GK MSJ DS1537