Babri Masjid demolition case: Special CBI court completes recording statements of accused

Lucknow: A special CBI court completed on Tuesday the recording of statements of the accused in the Babri mosque demolition case. Deposing before CBI special judge SK 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 CrPC which gave the accused an opportunity to refute the prosecution evidence against them. BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi had recorded their statements last week. The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992 by ‘kar sevaks’ who claimed that an ancient Ram temple stood at the same site. The court is conducting day-to-day hearing in the case to complete its trial by 31 August as directed by the Supreme Court.