Babri mosque case: Special CBI court completes recording of statements

Following the directions by the Supreme Court to complete the trial in the Babri mosque demolition case by August 31, a Special CBI court has finished hearing and recording statements of the accused.

Lucknow:A special CBI court on Tuesday completed the recording of statements of the accused in the Babri mosque demolition case.

Deposing before CBI special judge S K Yadav through video conferencing from Thane in Maharashtra, former Shiv Sena MP Satish Pradhan claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case due to political vendetta and maintained that he was completely innocent.

Of the 32 accused in the case, Pradhan was the penultimate on the list.

The judge separated the case against the last accused Om Prakash Pandey, who is not traceable as his family told the CBI that he had become a monk 15-16 years ago and did not return home since then.

The court completed the proceedings under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which gave the accused an opportunity to refute the prosecution evidence against them.

BJP veterans L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi had also recorded their statements last week.

The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992, by 'kar sevaks' - affiliated to right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) - who claimed that an ancient Ram temple stood at the same site.

The court is conducting a day-to-day hearing in the case to complete its trial by August 31 as directed by the Supreme Court.

(PTI)