A sting operation, conducted by Cobrapost on 23 key people of the Ram Janambhoomi movement, claims that the demolition of the Babri Masjid on 6 December, 1992, was elaborately planned by the various wings of the sangh parivar and executed with precision by trained volunteers. It wasn’t, as it is claimed, a case of mob frenzy going out of control, leading to the fall of the 16th century mosque, reports said on 4 April.
The investigation claims that by piecing together the versions given by the top Ram Janambhhomi players, among them Sakshi Maharaj, Acharya Dharmendra, Uma Bharti, Mahant Vedanti and Vinay Katiyar, it is apparent that top BJP leaders like L K Advani and the then UP chief minister Kalyan Singh, as well the former Congress PM, PV Narasimha Rao, were aware of the planned demolition of Babri Masjid. Cobrapost associate editor K Ashish travelled to Ayodhya, Faizabad, Tanda, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Mathura, Moradabad in UP, Jaipur, Aurangabad, Mumbai and Gwalior interviewing 23 of those who participated in the operation. He clandestinely recorded conversations with them.