Republic Bharat launched on Saturday, February 2, 2019, with an explosive investigation and sting that brought to light a stunning conspiracy that was buried following the 1990 Ayodhya firing incident involving the then Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party state government in Uttar Pradesh.

It was in October 1990 that thousands of Karsevaks had marched on Ayodhya to seek the construction of a Ram Mandir at the Ram Janmabhoomi site where the Babri Masjid then still stood. With the Mulayam Singh government resolving to stand against them, what resulted was a two-part crackdown by the state police that resulted in a massacre of the karsevaks. The official report on the incident concludes that 16 people had been killed in the firing. However, Republic Bharat's massive #KarsevakMassacre expose has revealed that the number was potentially far far higher, and that the communal motives and lies behind the subsequent coverup, vicious.

Republic Bharat's months-long investigation entailed a sting on senior Uttar Pradesh police officer VB Singh, who was then the SHO at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station. During the course of the sting, the officer made a series of shocking revelations.

Chief among the revelations was the laying bare of the official number of deceased that had been recorded in the post-incident report. For 28 years, Mulayam Singh Yadav has maintained that only 16 people had been killed. However, his top cop reveals that it was all a ruse.

“Dekhiye jo mare the log, toh desh ke patrakar aaye the, DM SSP kahe ki jaye SHO se baat ki jiye, toh bakeyde camere-vamera liye voh baat kar rahe toh, toh woh sunejo statement jo government ko dya gaya that usme 8 aadmi gunshot injury se dikhaye gaye the aur 8 aadmi gunshot injury se mare, aur 42 ghayal dikahee gaye the. Samjhte hai", VB Singh said. However, speaking before a hidden camera, VB Singh disclosed that the massacre was really of "countless" Hindus, rather than of 16 people.

“Mare toh bahut hai jo paani mein gire na, jab dono taraf se rubber ki goliya chali hai aur beharakar pul ke dono taraf kitne log maar gaye koi sankhya nahi maluum hai”, VB Singh said when asked about the true numbers that were killed.

Furthermore, there was a deep communal subterfuge in the report that was submitted - specifically that the Hindu Karsevaks were given burials and not cremations - something that would be leveraged in Mulayam Singh's politics over the next many years.

"Government ko report dena tha to hum gaye murdhani ghaat par aur waha par shamshaan ghaat par jo baithate hai unse puche-batao kitni laashe aati hai jo dafnayi jaati hai aur kitni jalaaye jaati hai? Toh usne bataya ki 15-20 laashe to dafnayi jaati hai.", VB Singh said, essentially revealing that when the SHO went to check, he was told that on a single day, 15-20 bodies were simply buried rather than being cremated.

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An effect of this was that the cops were able to waylay the families of the deceased karsevaks who later came enquiring, squarely basis the fact that those who had died had been buried:

“Woh hi toh, aate rahe nan, toh unko dikha diya ki yeh laashe jo hai yeh unki nahi hai, yeh dafnai hui laashe hai”, the fiormer Ram Janmabhoomi police thana SHO disclosed.

Following on from this, he also revealed how, why, and with whose knowledge the firing had been ordered and the report had been faked:

“Humse SSP aur DM ne kaha ki tum waha ki muddaye ban jao aur batao ki kar sewak yaha chowki kar rahe the, toh maine aapne siphaiyo ko aadesh diya ki firing karo, siphaiyo ne aapne rifle se do do round fire kiya. Maine aapne revolver se 6 round fire kiya. Farji sab. Khoka kartus (bullet shells) sab police line mein jama ho gaya lekin haqiqaat kuch aur thi. Uss samay ke magistrate banaye gaye the koi (unclear) toh unse SSP ne kaha ki app likh ke de digiye ki meine daroga VB SIngh ji ko goli chaalane ke aadesh diya. Aur woh dar ke maare likh be nahi kar rahe. DM, SP ko bahut dante atah uhone like kar diya. Aatah sab farji tha, yeh sab ghatna toh pehle ho chuki thi. Phir samajhiye mukadma hua. Jab sarkar aayi toh mukadme phir wapas shure hue”, he said, also disclosing that he wasn't the only one made to change his tune."

He mentioned the decision-making that had gone on before the crackdowns, naming Mulayam Singh while speaking of a conversation that the then SSP had:

“Sahaab ko 8 baje pata nahi kya baat hui Mulyam Singh se, mukhya mantri se SSP ki”.

Today, even as Ayodhya remains at the centre of politics in India, the deep investigation of Republic Bharat has revealed how 28 years ago, not 16 people, rather many many more Hindu karsevaks had been killed - had been denied their last rites - and had their families waylaid, and over which political advantage was taken and allowed to be taken by those officials who knew what had really transpired.

Watch Republic Bharat's super exclusive #KarsevakMassacre investigation and sting here