Rajasthan Special Operations Group’s team still in Delhi to record voice samples

JAIPUR: The Special Operations Group’s (SOG) team continues to camp in Delhi to take statements of persons who were allegedly heard discussing attempts to topple the Ashok Gehlot government in the audio clips which went viral.
The team had gone to the hotel in Manesar on Friday where the MLAs were lodged but were initially refused entry by Haryana police. SOG officials also applied in court in Jaipur on Saturday to seek permission for taking voice samples of the individuals heard in the recordings.
Ashok Rathore, ADG, SOG and ATS told TOI, “The team is currently in Delhi though they were unable to meet the persons whose statements were to be taken. Depending on the situation, we will take a call on Sunday to decide if the team should remain there.”
When the SOG team reached Manesar on Friday, they were initially refused entry into the hotel and once allowed they found that the MLAs had been shifted to another hotel.
According to officials, the team has gone to Delhi to serve summons to the MLA named in the one of the two FIRs lodged by Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi. One of the two FIRs mentioned Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma, Gajendra Singh and Sanjay Jain. The FIRs were lodged after two audio clips went viral in which the trio could be heard discussing alleged horse-trading of MLAs.
While questions are being raised about the tapping of phones of politicians, officials maintained that they are following the law and the source of the audio clips was yet to be unearthed. “We have followed the law and during the investigation, the officer handling the probe will also work at uncovering the source of the audio clips,” added Rathore.
An eight member team has been constituted to investigate this case.
The officials also claimed that in case the MLAs are shifted out of Delhi, they will also look the possibility of sending the team to the new location. While it is not mandatory for the summons to be delivered in person, the officials claimed that it was to doubly ensure that the person in question receives it.
“The summons can be sent via Whatsapp and email as well but the phone number which we have with us is switched off and is not being used on Whatsapp”, said the official.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Jain, who was arrested in the same case on Friday, was produced before the court on Saturday and sent to 4 days of police remand. SOG officials also applied in the court to seek persmission for collecting voice samples of the persons heard in the audio clips, the decision for which is likely to be given on Monday.