Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinay Katiyar on Friday said former Punjab DGP K P S Gill's reputation as an officer has been very good, and added that he is absolutely correct in saying that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi cannot be blamed for the post-Godhra riots.
"KPS Gill has been a very learned officer and his reputation has been good. I think whatever he has written about Modi and the post-Godhra riots might be correct," he said.
Katiyar, however, refused to comment further on the matter, saying he had not yet read Gill's book.
"I have not read the book. So, I cannot speak about it in detail," he said.
Gill, who had served as security advisor to the Gujarat Chief Minister in 2002, has said that Modi cannot be blamed for post-Godhra riots as it is the job of the police leadership to respond to law and order situations.
"In law and order situations, it is the police leadership which has to respond and not the political leadership," he told media here yesterday, when asked about his assessment of Modi's handling of post-Godhra events.
The former Punjab DGP, who was speaking at the launch of his biography - 'KPS Gill: The Paramount Cop', has lauded Modi in his book.
He says in his book that Modi had 'sincere' intentions to end the violence and accused other parties of trying to defame him.
Gill says that the policemen and the administration had become communal after the incident in Godhra and Modi, who had just become the CM, did not have proper grip over the state machinery.
The former Punjab DGP had been appointed as the security advisor to Modi in May, 2002, to bolster efforts to efficiently tackle communal violence in Gujarat.
