The state government said this in an affidavit and annexed the statements of seven witnesses who recorded their evidence between July 22 and 25 last year before a senior police officer as per the direction of a court in Ahmedabad.

Giving names of the witnesses, the affidavit filed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad City, said "I have gone through the same (witnesses statements) and I say that all of them have supported the contents of the complaint."

The Gujarat government annexed the affidavits of the witnesses placed before the apex court in 2003 to buttress allegation against Setalvad as in the latest statements the witnesses have stated that some averments and facts mentioned in their earlier affidavits were those which they had objected.

The witnesses said their previous affidavits were "prepared" at the office of Setalvad's former close aide, Rais Khan Pathan, who is also accused of fabricating the evidence in the Naroda Gam case in which 11 people were killed.

According to the copies of the fresh statements annexed with the latest affidavit, some of them alleged that to their "knowledge Setalvad was sending these affidavits to Khan after preparing the same."

The ACP on July 25 last had also examined Khan, who said Setalvad used to send all details and names after preparing such affidavits.

The issue is likely to be heard tomorrow by the apex court which on September 2 stayed proceedings by entertaining Setalvad's plea against the Gujarat High Court's order giving green signal for probe against Khan.

The apex court had sought response from the state government and Khan on petition by Setalvad and the NGO, Citizen For Justice and Peace (CJP), challenging the probe into allegation of fabricating evidence in the case.

An FIR was lodged in December 2010 after a special magistrate court ordered that a criminal complaint be registered against Khan for allegedly "fabricating" evidence.

Setalvad and her NGO, which has been working in the state in the aftermath of 2002 riots, has challenged the high court order contending that "it is apparent on the face of the entire proceedings that the attempt has been made to discredit and dissuade them from assisting the victims of the communal riots from getting justice".

Setalvad had opposed the high court order as the probe against Khan could prove troublesome for her as she heads CJP and her former aide had claimed that he was facilitating witnesses in preparing affidavits at the her behest.

The high court had on July 11 last rejected the petition filed by the registrar, city civil and sessions court, against magisterial court order of 2010 for lodging of FIR against Khan and initiating an inquiry under Section 156(3) of CrPC for the offences dealing with false and fabricated evidence.

The court had also permitted the police to go ahead with the probe on the basis of the FIR lodged against Khan.

In the earlier affidavits, the witnesses had stated they made statements upon speaking on telephone with Setalvad in the presence of Khan, who was working for her NGO.

Khan has already filed his affidavit in response to apex court notice, alleging that he has been threatened at the behest of Setalvad after he dissociated from her.

He said he was removed as the field co-coordinator of the NGO in January 2008, as he refused to "do certain acts which were not in the interest of communal harmony".

Setalvad's estranged aide made several allegations against her including that she had warned him of "dire consequences" if he will go against her and was getting threatening calls.

Khan, who confessed that he was facilitating witnesses in preparing affidavits at her behest, said Setalvad "used to send instructions and fully prepared affidavits" in his e-mail accounts, the passwords of which was also known to her.

He had said most of the victims and witnesses were poor and uneducated but still their affidavits were prepared in English on the pretext that Gujarati was not accepted in the high court and the apex court with the help of a particular advocate and court notary.

The affidavit said Setalvad was working with vengeance and she used to instruct him to collect evidence from "wherever" or "create" to fix the accused persons.

The former aide of Setalvad said in the affidavit that relief camps started by the NGOs and the Gujarat government for riots victims had "started becoming hub of political activities" where he along with her used to visit regularly.

Khan, who was also not conversant with English, said though he was working in the NGO, he was provided with an identity card of an English magazine with which Setalvad was associated.

He opposed the petition filed by her and the NGO in the apex court saying it was aimed at "hampering" the investigation done by the authorities to unravel the entire