New Delhi, July 28: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took his rivalry with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a whole new level after accusing him of planning his assassination. Even the section of media and social commentators who hold a soft spot for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo could not refrain from dismissing his statements. For the lay viewer, the allegation of Kejriwal appears to be ridiculous. Their argument is, “How could a sitting chief minister be assassinated?” However, those mocking the claims of Kejriwal should also revisit the tragic story of Haren Pandya, who was once an accomplice of Modi, but allegedly turned into his rival for disclosing information related to 2002 post Godhra riots before the Concerned Citizens Tribunal. (ALSO READ: Narendra Modi may get me killed: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal) Also Read - Farm Bills Need of 21st Century, Says PM Modi; Assures Farmers on MSP

Haren’s father Vithal Pandya claims that his son’s assassination in 2003 was a planned, political murder, for allegedly disclosing crucial information before the preliminary investigation body. Vithal had minced no words while blaming Modi for his son’s assassination. However, the Gujarat ATS had arrested one Gulam Zafar Ghulam Husain Sheikh from Hyderabad in 2013, charging him with the murder of Pandya. Also Read - PM Modi Hails Passage of Farm Bills in Parliament, Calls it 'Watershed Moment in History of Indian Agriculture'

Six months before his death, Haren Pandya claimed that he is receiving death threats. Why was he targeted? Also Read - PM Modi Likely to Hold COVID-19 Review Meeting With Chief Ministers of 7 Worst-hit States Next Week

Before the rights tribunal which was probing the government inaction in 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom, Pandya had claimed that Modi chaired a meeting on the night of February 27, 2002, and allegedly told all his ministers and senior bureaucrats to allow “Hindus to vent their anger” in response to the burning of train by Muslims in Godhra. While recording his statements before the tribunal, Pandya had urged the probing body not to disclose his name. However, members within the State establishment came to know somehow that it was Pandya who had leaked the crucial details. Subsequently, he began receiving death threats and was eventually murdered.

Pandya was the Revenue Minister of Gujarat at the time of his death. Similar to Kejriwal, he had claimed that he could be murdered. Nearly six months later, he was gunned to death in Ahmedabad. Motorcycle borne gunman shot him to death inside his vehicle.

Justice Hosbet Suresh, who was a member of Concerned Citizen Tribunal, later confirmed that it was Pandya who revealed information about the tacit support allegedly given to Hindutva rioters by the then Gujarat government. While speaking to Outlook, Justice Suresh said that he questioned Pandya on what would had been his response after the train burning incident in Godhra. “He replied: I would have confined Godhra to Godhra itself. It was Modi who wanted to take Godhra to the rest of Gujarat.”