The Congress said Thursday that the Gujarat government had deliberately destroyed intelligence records related to the 2002 riots in the state.

"It is astounding that vital documents pertaining to the carnage/massacre in which the needle of suspicion points directly at the CM of Gujarat (Narendra Modi) have been destroyed. Papers get destroyed in this manner... this is nothing short of a criminal conspiracy to see that the truth does not emerge," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

Terming the act a "criminal conspiracy", Tewari added: "When a matter is under investigation and when these records would have had vital bearing on the developments which took place during those days... they disappeared.

"Such documents if they disappear in this manner or are deliberately destroyed by the state government clearly points toward the fact that the state government is trying to cover up its role in this entire massacre," Tewari said.

Senior Gujarat government counsel S.B. Vakil had Wednesday revealed that records of the state intelligence agency relating to the 2002 sectarian violence were destroyed in 2007 as per "standard practice".