Gulbarg fund embezzlement case: Teesta seeks anticipatory bail

Ahmedabad, Feb 25: Social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand today filed anticipatory bail petitions before a sessions court here in connection with alleged embezzlement of Rs 1.51 crore collected by them for turning the 2002 riot-affected Gulbarg Society into a museum.

"Teesta and Javed Anand have filed applications for anticipatory bail before the city sessions court. The applications are likely to come up for hearing before judge H C Vora tomorrow," said Setalwad's counsel S M Vora. "The embezzlement case does not have any substance. It has been filed with ulterior motives," he said.

The Crime Branch on January 5 registered an FIR against Setalvad, her husband, Zakia Jafri's son Tanvir Jafri, Gulbarg Society's secretary Feroz Gulzar and chairman Salim Sandhi for allegedly usurping Rs 1.51 crore collected by them for turning Gulbarg Society into a museum. Zakia is the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was among 69 persons killed by a mob at Gulbarg Society during the 2002 riots. Setalvad and Anand had earlier given transit bail of three weeks by the Bombay High Court in the case.

While Tanvir Jafri, Feroz Gulzar and Salim Sandhi applied for anticipatory bail in a local court here. Setalvad had termed the FIR as the part of a "sinister campaign" unleashed against her and her husband by some persons being manipulated by a former employee of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) Rais Khan Pathan. In her January 6 letter to JCP (Crime) A K Sharma, Setalvad said Pathan was using some residents of the society (not official members) and sections of the police and some persons claiming to be official members of the society against them.

Setalvad, the Secretary of CJP, had alleged the FIR appears to be aimed at derailing the protest petition by Zakia against Narendra Modi and others. "We would like to state categorically that both CJP and Sabrang Trust officially received money for legitimate activities and following the legally required procedures," the letter had said.

PTI