Death Sentence for 11 Islamic Terrorists for Burning Alive 59 Hindus in Godhra Train Carnage

Godhra train burning: death for 11, life for 20

IANS
2011-03-01

Ahmedabad, March 1 (IANS) A special court here Tuesday sent to the gallows 11 people and gave life imprisonment to 20 others for the February 2002 burning of a train coach in Gujarat’s Godhra town, in which 59 people were killed triggering a communal frenzy that claimed an estimated 1,000 lives in the state.

The sentence was pronounced by special judge P.R. Patel in the court within the high-security Sabarmati prison here.

The 31 people were convicted Feb 22 and held guilty of conspiring and setting on fire S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station Feb 27, 2002. The train, carrying many radical Hindu activists, was on its way back from Uttar Pradesh’s temple town Ayodhya.

The court had acquitted 63 others, including alleged mastermind Maulvi Saeed Umarji.

Those sentenced to death are Ismail Sujela alias Haji Bilal, Razak Kurkur, Ramzani Dinyamin Bera, Jabbir Dinyamin Bera, Mehboob Hassan alias Latiko, Siraj Bala, Irfan Kalandar, Irfan Patadia, Hassan Lalu, Mehboob Chanda and Salim Zarda.

While the prosecution sought death for the 31 convicted, arguing that it was the ‘rarest of rare case’, the defence appealed that the convicts be spared the noose and sentenced to life in prison.

According to J.M. Panchal, special public prosecutor, this was possibly the first case in the country when so many people had been given the death sentence. He said those sentenced would have 90 days to appeal.

Lawyers for the prosecution Rajendra Tiwari and Parimal Pathak added that the court considered it as the rarest of rare case and believed the conspiracy theory forcefully advanced by the prosecution.

The 31 men were held guilty of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery and arson.

The Godhra train burning sparked the worst riots since partition with at least 1,000 people being killed, mostly Muslims.

Forensic Report gave Clinching Evidence in Godhra Carnage by Islamic Terrorists

Forensic lab gave ‘clinching evidence’ in Godhra case
Ahmedabad, Feb 22, (IANS):

Clinching evidence in the 2002 Godhra train burning case came from Gandhinagar’s Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), lawyers said Wednesday after a fast track court here convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 in the case.

FSL played a key role in the investigation and trial of the case, the lawyers said.
According to defence lawyer A.A. Hassan, for the conviction the court relied on the FSL report to accept the theory of pre-planned conspiracy.

“The court has accepted the theory that the fire was not accidental and that entry into the coach was made by cutting the vestibule and then petrol was poured inside and it was set on fire,” he said.

Special Public Prosecutor J.M. Panchal said Tuesday the clinching evidence for the conviction came from the FSL report, eyewitnesses and circumstantial evidence.

At least 59 people were burnt to death Feb 27, 2002 on board the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station, an incident that sparked communal frenzy in Gujarat.

The FSL, after detailed investigation, had concluded that the burning of the S-6 coach of the train was by using petrol. The FSL also stated that the culprits entered the coach through a sliding door of the coach.

As per police investigations, the fire broke out after the accused had cut a vestibule between two coaches (S-6 and S-7) and entered from there whereas another group poured petrol inside the coach and set it on fire.

This was challenged by lawyers of the accused in the court as well as before the Justices (retired) Nanavati-Mehta probe panel. This panel ruled that the incident was a pre-planned conspiracy.

Another inquiry commission of Justice U.C. Benerjee, which was formed by the Indian Railways, had concluded that the incident was “accidental”.

To examine the pattern of burning, FSL reconstructed the scene by pouring liquid from outside, inside and passage of the coach.

Its examination also showed the presence of hydrocarbons of petrol in the S-6 coach.

The two containers found from the track also had petrol inside. According to the prosecution, the accused had brought the petrol in a small truck to the Godhra railway station and then poured it in the coach.

Must read on Godhra Massacre by Islamic terrorists: Without tinder, sparks are useless – Varsha Bhosle

Varsha Bhosle

March 4, 2002
Without tinder, sparks are useless
Friday: In Mumbai, 7 buses have been damaged, 8 BEST staffers injured, and trains blocked by stone-throwing mobs during the strike called by the VHP. In neighbouring Thane, 6 shops belonging to “a minority community” have been set ablaze; a “100-strong mob moved around in the town… appealing to shopkeepers to down shutters and at some place forcibly pulling them down” (The Indian Express).

Question: Why did the shopkeepers ignore the VHP’s call for a bandh? Like agents provocateurs, were they looking for trouble…?

A-ha, you’re thinking, this dame’s accusing the victims for the crimes committed by the Hindu mob! And you’d be right. But I’m simply following our “secular” tradition: When news spread that 59 “Hindu activists” were killed by “miscreants” at Godhra, “the entire Opposition expressed disappointment over the government’s response to their demand for stern action against the VHP for continuing with its mass mobilisation programme in a bid to build a temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya” (The Newspaper Today, February 28).

That’s right. Unarmed men, women and children are massacred by a Muslim mob — and the “secularists” suggest that the Hindus brought it upon themselves by going to Ayodhya.

What really happened at Godhra? According to The Asian Age of February 28, “A mob of 1,500, reportedly belonging to a minority community, attacked a bogie of the Sabarmati Express ferrying VHP activists… using iron rods and swords, and hacked to death over 50 passengers… Inflammable substances were also thrown into the coach, which led to a fire in a portion of the bogie, and several passengers were charred to death.”

Hacked to death with swords before being burnt.

Could the Age be wrong? But the Ahmedabad edition of The Times of India also carried this bit: “‘In our culture, women are respected and not attacked with swords and acid. We should not take this lying down,’ thundered [karsevika] Sushma Shukla.”

While stuff like “frenzied young men brandishing swords, tridents and iron rods have taken over the streets” occupies the front pages today, silence reigns over the swords, rods and acid used by “unidentified persons” or “miscreants” in the attack on “Ram sevaks” or “Hindu activists”.

The man in charge of the Hindu entourage on the train also told the Age, “There were many girls travelling along with the karsevaks and about 10 have been abducted by miscreants belonging to the minority community.” The reporter quizzed District Collector Jayanti Ravi about the abductions, which she did not deny: “The reported abduction of the girls is a subject of investigation, which would be done later.”

Ten girls stated to have been abducted. Have you read about this in our largest-selling newspapers amidst all the details of the carnage that Hindu hordes have wrought? Has anybody inquired about the FIRs…?

On the evening of the attack on the Sabarmati Express, a STAR News anchor admonished a fellow anchor for saying that a Muslim mass assaulted the Hindus: “Please don’t jump to conclusions. As journalists, we have a responsible role to play,” he said. The attack occurred around 8am, and even after 7pm, the newsman wanted to project doubts about the religious identity of the assailants…

How do you think the abducted girls’ brothers must have felt about the news blackout? How do you think the men who collected the shapeless bundles of charred flesh must have felt when the Communists and the Congress stuck to the supposed legitimacy of the Babri Masjid instead of sympathising with the distraught families? Could they have felt that India is their country, too? Wouldn’t they direct their rage at the first Muslim they saw? Then, does this “responsible” press, do these “secular” politicians, have any right to comment on the fury driving the rampaging Hindus? NOT!

Why am I not spewing bile at the Muslims, you ask? I won’t; I feel they’re little at fault. A spoilt child is created when the parents, fearing the tantrums he throws, accede to his every demand. He invariably becomes a bully, unwilling to share his possessions with his siblings, who then wait for a chance to get even. However, the error is the parents’, who shouldn’t have indulged him and driven a stake between the siblings. Whether the gruesome acts of the Muslim mobs or the Hindu hordes, none of it would have happened if someone had stuffed all our Nehruvian secularists and pinkos — politician, press and commoner — into a giant box and drowned it at sea in 1947. Then, Muslims would have learnt to live in parity with Hindus, and there’d be no Hindu backlash. Indeed, there would be no VHP.

*****

Saturday: The death toll has risen to 375. In Ahmedabad, even after the army being deployed, Hindu hordes armed with petrol bombs, swords and guns continue to hunt prey. In Bapunagar, where Hindus and Muslims clashed, rocket launchers, automatic guns and bombs were used. Six mosques have been razed in Ahmedabad, Surat and Bharuch. In Naroda-Patia, an entire slum was torched within minutes. The stories coming out are as bloodcurdling as that of the Sabarmati 59 — of entire Muslim families being lynched and set ablaze. In Pandarvada village, 30 were burnt alive. In Ahmedabad’s Gulmarg Housing Society, 35 Muslims were butchered, and similar massacres occurred in Saraspur and Shahwadi colonies…

The list of the dehumanization is endless. Most of the murdered couldn’t possibly have been part of the mob that burnt the Hindus. Most of them must have been innocents with no connection to any kind of violence. But that’s the ugly nature of a riot — no sanity, all fury. Whether the impetus is race, religion or poverty, riots essentially stem from extreme frustration. Communal riots will not go away unless the devout Hindus’ concerns are addressed. Bhosle’s “inflammatory” writing on the Web does not reach the Hindus of Godhra — it is the “national” newspapers, filled with anti-Hindu slants, that fuel their sense of estrangement in their own country. If our “secularists” do not recognise the crime they are committing — the position in which they are placing a minority — such riots will continue. With or without the VHP. Why make a tinderbox in the first place and then guard against a spark?? Chuck out the tinder! The spark will be wasted.

As I hear one horror story after another, the only questions that keep ringing in my mind are: WHY did the Muslims attack the train? WHAT were they thinking?! Did they really believe that no Hindu would retaliate? Didn’t they know that Gujarat is the land of *that* Mahatma Gandhi who had said, “But as a Hindu, I am more ashamed of Hindu cowardice than I am angry at the Mussalman bullying. Why did not the owners of the houses looted die in the attempt to defend their possessions? Where were the relatives of the outraged sisters at the time of outrage? My non-violence does not admit running away from danger and leaving the dear ones unprotected” (cited in The Tragic Story of Partition by H V Seshadri). WHO were these people?!

Prompt came the reply: The ISI, said BJP leader J P Mathur. Which is so much bullshit that I want to puke. Among those arrested (at the time of writing) — on the basis of eyewitness accounts or being caught in action — are two eminent municipal councillors of Godhra, Abdul Dhamtia and Salim Shaikh, the latter’s brother Abdul Gaffar, and two petrol-pump owners who provided the fuel to burn the train. Also, the nagarpalika president, Mohammad Kalota, and councillor Bilal Haji — both accused — are absconding. Besides which, no sane person can believe that Pakistan would dispatch a 2,000-strong army of spooks to one place.

The Muslims who attacked the Sabarmati Express were neither ISI agents nor al-Qaeda jihadis — they are plain old Indians. Sure, the hand of the ISI *is* deep in there — but it’s now being cited by the politicians to shirk the responsibility for their continuing with the Congress policy of indulging the minorities, to the point that Muslims began to think they are invincible. Just as Osama bin Laden thought he would get away with obliterating the WTC, so did the Muslims of Godhra think vis-à-vis the Hindus returning from Ayodhya.

Ayodhya… To understand where I’m coming from, I urge you to visit my column of 1997 before reading further. The razing of the Babri has become the embodiment of everything that’s evil in India — that is, practising Hindus are what’s wrong with India. You see, if a Vinod Mehta or a Dilip Padgaonkar can’t be bothered to wear a janoi or believe fervently in the existence of Ram, it follows that any Hindu who does can’t be a sane specimen. If a Shekhar Gupta or a Kuldip Nayar feels no threat to his self-esteem from a mosque built on land traditionally revered as Ram’s janmabhoomi, it follows that anyone who does is an extremist-Hindu-fundamentalist-activist.

Problem is, there are far, FAR more Hindus who want to see the Ram temple come up at Ayodhya than there are clutches of “secular” opinion makers, historians, politicians and socialites. The alumni of Cathedral School or JNU do not an India make. This country also consists of the people who burnt Bombay and are burning Bharuch.

The root of the Ayodhya issue is the sacrilege of a masjid constructed at the site of what is held as Ram’s birthplace. Muslims — who believe that the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem represent Islam’s third-most holy sites — should have no difficulty in understanding the pulls of blind faith. After all, there is *no* historical evidence to suggest Mohammad ever visited Jerusalem, let alone ascended to heaven from the site on the Temple Mount. Therefore, a court order in favour of Muslims will NOT make Hindu resentment vanish. In fact, it will lead to worse.

In January 1991, when the VHP was negotiating a settlement for the return of the Ram Janmabhoomi, it gave this *written* assurance to the All-India Babri Masjid Action Committee and the government: “We do not even demand the return of the thousands of places of worship that have been forcibly replaced with mosques… We merely want three places back, three age-old sacred places. And we would prefer getting them back from the Muslim community, to getting them back by an official decree… Muslims should understand what kind of message they are sending by insisting on continuing the occupation of our sacred places, an occupation started by fanatics and mass murderers like Babar and Aurangzeb. We do not like to think of our Muslim compatriots as heirs and followers of such invaders and tyrants. It is up to them to make a gesture that will signify a formal break with this painful past.” The three places are Ram Janmabhoomi, Krishna Janmabhoomi (Idgah at Mathura), and Kashi Vishwanath (part of the Gyan Vyapi mosque complex).

I propose that the “secularists”, especially the leftist media, create such a climate that the Muslim leadership would freely cede these three sites to the Hindu activists. You see, there is no other solution. For, even if the “educated” bend-over-and-spread-up Hindus don’t know about the VHP’s affidavit and Syed Shahabuddin’s obdurate inflexibility, the Hindus who can make or break a riot DO. Wait and see what happens should a mosque come up at Ram Janmabhoomi again.

The devout Hindus have already compromised by asking for just 3 sites from among thousands. It is now up to the parent to cajole or threaten the spoilt child and teach him how to share with his sibling. Otherwise, further pampering = added estrangement = more riots. QED.

Varsha Bhosle

History of Islamic terrorism in Godhra (1927 to present)

link

An Eyewitness on What Really Happened at Godhra

What Really Happened At Godhra?�
Author: George Joseph
Publication: Mathrubhumi
Date: April 20, 2002

Since the last 12 years, I have been carrying on a small business, near the Godhra Railway Station. I am detailing below those same incidents, which are constantly appearing during the last few weeks, through different media reports and statements. I am a living eyewitness of the Godhra carnage.

Godhra, a Muslim dominated area, is a place, which has been experiencing a deep communal divide and tension since the last many years. Hence we have been living there under great fear and constant tension. If communal violence erupted in any part of the country, its immediate drastic impact was witnessed at Godhra also.

The Congress Councilor, who has been the main culprit behind the Godhra carnage, is a no.1 hoodlum of the area. The Councilor’s cronies have, so many a times, indulged in the most condemnable rowdy acts in the station surroundings. I have been an eyewitness to many such acts. Today I would not have been alive to write this letter, had I opposed them, by giving some complaints.

The attack on Sabarmati Express was a pre-planned exercise. They made careful plans for the same, many weeks before the incident. It was impossible to witness before the naked eye, the incidents that took place on that day. Thousands of people, shouting slogans in favour of the Babri Masjid were present in the railway station surroundings, on that fateful day. Why the police did not try to control them? The Congress Councilor was the main reason for that. Even the police did not have the guts to touch him.

Those people who managed to jump out of the burning bogie were mercilessly stoned to the ground. Even little children were not spared. I ran for my life as it was impossible remain there as an eyewitness for a longer period of time. Why is the Congress Party not prepared to condemn and expose the real colour of the culprits? Why the media is selectively avoiding eyewitnesses like us? All these exercises are for votes.

We are not ready to go back to Gujarat till the problems are completely resolved. The reason is, in Godhra only Muslims can live. Through experience I am attesting to this truth. When communal problems take place, it is not correct to make a pre- judgement without actually analyzing the real root of the problem. There are many people who still justify the merciless acts of burning alive the passengers of Sabarmati Express with kerosene and petrol. The reason I am writing such a letter is that, none of the media could highlight the real problem. Medias like the Mathrubhumi should have the guts and the conviction to come out with the real truth behind such problems, irrespective of religion, caste and creed.

George Joseph, Pazhoor

(This is a translation of the letter)

Islamic Terrorists hatched Sabarmati Train Carnage Conspiracy At Godhra Guest House

Conspiracy hatched at Godhra guest house: court

Wednesday, Feb 23, 2011

Manas Dasgupta

“After train stopped, 5 of the accused set coach S-6 afire”

AHMEDABAD: Special court judge P.R. Patel, in his judgment in the Godhra train carnage case, held that a “conspiracy” was hatched on the night of February 26, 2002 at the Aman Guest House in the Gujarat town, where besides Abdul Razzak Kurkur, four persons — Salim Panwala, who is believed to be in Pakistan, Farooq Bana, Salim Jarda and Salim Bana were present.

The judge maintained that on February 27, 2002, after the Sabarmati Express halted near “A” cabin of the Godhra station following chain pulling, five of the accused — Ayub Patalia, Irfan Kalandar, Mehboob Popa, Shaukat Patalia and Siddique Vohra — broke open the vestibule between coaches S-6 and S-7, entered S-6, in which a large number of the VHP kar sevaks were travelling, poured sizable quantity of petrol and set the coach aflame, causing the death of 59 people. They had collected the petrol from the “Bawa” pump near the station the previous night.The court, however, has not named them the principal accused. It invoked all relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code against all the 31 accused. But, according to Public Prosecutor J.M. Panchal, nine persons, barring the absconding Salim Panwala, who were named as having been present in the guest house to hatch the “conspiracy” and those who entered S-6 to set it afire, could attract capital punishment.

According to Mr. Panchal, the court accepted the “conspiracy” theory on the basis of scientific, oral and circumstantial evidence.

Defence not happy

But I. M. Munshi, one of the six-member counsel for the accused, regretted that the court based its judgment on the “evidence” of only four witnesses and an alleged “confessional statement” by one of the accused, which did not merit being “counted.”

According to Mr. Munshi, the court heavily relied on the statements by Ajay Baria, a tea vendor on the station platform, and Sikandar Mohammad, who lived near the mosque adjacent to the station and had “rushed” to the platform on hearing the “commotion.” Both Ajay and Sikandar claimed in their statements given under Section 164 of the Cr.PC that they had actually “seen” the five accused enter S-6 by breaking the vestibule and pour petrol.

Two others who gave statements under Section 164 were Prabhatsinh Chauhan and Ranjit Jodha, both employees of the “Bawa” pump. They told the investigating authorities that they had “sold” 120 litres of petrol the previous night to the accused. The only “confessional statement” was given by Jabir Behra, one of the accused, who claimed to have “knowledge” of the “conspiracy” and the events thereafter.

Dismissing the reliability of these statements, Mr. Munshi said all the five statements were later retracted by the witnesses, and the statements of Ajay Baria and Sikandar were recorded by the police more than a year after the incident, while the petrol pump employees had in their original statements denied having sold petrol loose as originally claimed by the police. Only after the investigation was handed over to the then CID (crime) inspector, Noel Parmar, did he “manage” to “extract confessions from the two that they sold petrol in cans to the accused and that earlier they were scared of confessing about it.”

Similarly, Mr. Munshi pointed out, Salim Behra gave the “confessional statement” when the case was being tried under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has since been repealed. So the statement given under the POTA would not hold and it should not have been relied upon by the court.

“No evidence”

Referring to the acquittal of Moulana Umarji, whom the police originally held the “principal conspirator,” Mr. Munshi said the prosecution could not produce even an “iota of evidence” against him. The aged Moulana was actually running a relief camp with the permission of the District Collector, following the riots post-Godhra, when the police picked him up. A loudspeaker blaring from the nearby mosque “inciting” the mob was also a “cooked up story” by the police. For, after Umarji, the police named Moulana Abdullah as speaking on the public address system at that time but later it was found that he was not even present at Godhra and was in fact abroad on the fateful day.

Mr. Munshi made it clear that the 31 convicted would move the Gujarat High Court against the verdict. He also hinted at the possibility of the acquitted filling a case against the State government for compensation as they had spent nearly nine years in jail for no crime.

Mr. Panchal said he was “satisfied” with the judgment but declined to comment on the acquittal of a huge number of accused. “The court verdict is to be respected and there can be no debate on it.”

About the prosecution approaching the High Court against the acquittal of the 63 accused, Mr. Panchal said a decision could be taken only after going through the entire judgment.

Besides the nine accused the court believed were in the Aman guest house and to have entered S-6, those convicted are Salim Vohra, Abdul Sattar Ghanchi, Abdul Raoof Desli, Yunus Ghadiali, Ibrahim Samal, Bilal Badam, Farooq Ghanchi, Siraj Bana, Qasim Biriyani, Anwar Moola, Ramzan Behra, Hasan Charkha, Mehboob Chanda, Ibrahim Samal, Mehboob Pitha, Ilyas Koda, Ramzani, Jabir Behra, Soyeb Kalandar, Bilal Abdul Ghanchi, Bhuria, and Ismail Mumtaz.

Godhra Ruling Against Islamic Terrorism: A Historic Occasion

Godhra ruling will set the trend against mob violence’
February 22, 2011

Sheela Bhatt in Ahmedabad

Rediff.com’s Sheela Bhatt was in Ahmedabad when the judgment in the Godhra train burning case was pronounced on Tuesday. She has also followed and written about the twists and turns in the historic nine-year legal battle. Her analysis of the verdict

On Tuesday, February 22, at 11.07 am, Judge P R Patel came to the makeshift courtroom inside the historic Sabarmati jail with two sets of papers. One set he gave to the prosecution side and another to the defence lawyer. They contained the names of 63 accused who had been acquitted and the 31 who had been convicted.

Most importantly, he announced that he has applied Section 302, Section 120-B, Section 149, 307, 323, 324, 332 of the Indian Penal Code to the 31 accused and he has also upheld the charge of conspiracy against them. That was the most important part of the judgment because it has the power to polarise opinion in India. The Godhra train carnage was not an accident, said the court. It believes that it was a preplanned conspiracy.

This judgment is historic because, in India, incidents of communal and mob violence are quite common but the conviction rate in cases related to them is quite low. A senior police officer related to the case told rediff.com, “This case is the first of its kind where more than 25 people are being convicted on serious charges of mob violence. This will set a trend. It is very difficult to build up a case against each of them. It is very heartening that the court has accepted our arguments and convicted 31 persons.”

31 Islamic Terrorists Convicted For Setting Fire to Sabarmati Express In Godhra, Burning Alive 59 Innocent Hindus

Godhra train attack was planned, says court, convicts 31, frees 63
Feb 23 2011
Ahmedabad:

The special court here pronounced 31 accused guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy in connection with the Sabarmati train carnage in Godhra, in which 59 men, women and children, mostly kar sevaks of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, were burnt to death on February 27, 2002.

The attack, which the court ruled was an act stemming from a criminal conspiracy, triggered the subsequent communal riots in Gujarat, in which over 1,000 people were killed.

Special trial judge P R Patel acquitted 63 others who were chargesheeted. They include Maulvi Umarji, the prime accused. The pronouncement of the judgment started at around 11 am and lasted for half an hour.

The judgment was read out inside the high-security Sabarmati Central Jail today. The sentencing is scheduled for February 25. The minimum punishment the guilty could be given is life imprisonment; the maximum, death.

The court ruled that the fire in coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express was started after a criminal conspiracy hatched by the convicts to kill the passengers inside. A total 94 persons faced trial under the Indian Penal Code, Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damage to the Public Property Act and the Bombay Police Act.

The accused were charged with pulling the chain of the train at Godhra station, pelting the train with stones near Signal Faliya, throwing burning rags and petrol inside the coach, cutting the canvas of the vestibule, forcibly entering the coach and dousing it with petrol from the inside.

They were also accused of collecting 140 litres of petrol on the night of February 26, 2002, and hiding it behind a local guest house, with the intention to attack the train the next day.

The charge was that they hatched the conspiracy out of communal grudge against a particular community.

The main convicts include Haji Bilal, a former member of the Godhra Nagarpalika and Abdul Razak Kurkur, owner of Aman Guest House. Besides Maulana Umarji, who was accused of instigating the others to set the train on fire, Mohammed Kalota, a former president of the Godhra Nagarpalika, was acquitted.

Thee trial was conducted inside Sabarmati Central Jail, as the state government had imposed Section 268 CrPC on the accused, restricting their mobility.

Special Public Prosecutor J M Panchal said the court had ordered the conviction of 31 accused on the basis of eyewitness accounts, testimony of railway employees, forensic evidence confirming the use of petrol, and circumstantial evidence.

Asked if he was satisfied, Panchal said, “There is no question of satisfaction… The court has given its verdict and we have to respect it.” Panchal declined to state whether the prosecution would demand capital punishment for the convicts.

Panchal was assisted by two Special Assistant Public Prosecutors, N N Prajapati and A Y Kogje. The prosecution examined 253 witnesses, around 20 of whom turned hostile. There were no defence witnesses.

Defence lawyers expressed satisfaction with the judgment. One of the chief counsel, A A Hasan said, “The 63 persons have been acquitted while accepting the defence arguments. Many of the accused were implicated in the case as part of political rivalry and that argument has been accepted by the court.”

Wikileaks: LeT planned to kill Narendra Modi, establish bases in Kerala, Tamil Nadu

LeT planned to kill Narendra Modi, establish bases in Kerala, Tamil Nadu
Sunday, Dec 5, 2010
Place: Washington, DC | Agency: PTI

Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba had planned to assassinate Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and use Kerala and Tamil Nadu as base for carrying out strikes in southern India, according to a secret US diplomatic cable.

Information coming out of a secret state department cable dated June 19, 2009, released by WikiLeaks indicates that LeT has established a facilitation centre in Sri Lanka and was looking at setting up a base of operations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

It also reveals the dangerously expanding Lashkar network in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The United States, which has charged the Wikileaks of indulging in a criminal act by stealing and releasing these cables, has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of these documents.

The secret state department cable is based on various intelligence inputs received by it, the source of which is not mentioned in the cable.

The cable notes that the network of Shafiq Khafa – a Lashkar leader – is “striving to stand up two teams in southern India that rely on the support of LeT members based in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal”.

Although specific details of planned LeT attacks remain unknown, late-May 2009 intelligence indicates that Khafa’s cells were engaged in surveillance activities of potential targets, likely in southern India.

“Early-May reporting further suggests Kerala or Tamil Nadu may be used as a base of operations following the establishment of a facilitation team in Sri Lanka, with the estimated time of completion for setting up the facilitation route and camps to be two to three months,” the cable said.

It is understood that the specific intelligence information was passed on to India.

“Separate tearline indicates, & Pakistan-based Shafiq Khafa prepared in mid-June with India-based associate S J for possible operations in India.

“Khafa was looking for information on possible training sites in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala,” the cable said.

The cable says that LeT’s Shafiq Khafa was preparing for operations in India including the assassination of Modi.

“Tearline reports, & Hussein, an India-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) member, continued operational planning on three tasks in early June.

“The tasks were associated with a possible operation against Gujarat chief minister Narendar Modi, the establishment of a training camp, and unspecified work involving a car.

“Hussein would coordinate his activities with an India-based colleague identified as Sameer,” the cable said.

Teesta Setalvad should be punished for tutoring riot case witnesses: Godhra accused tells Supreme Court

Punish Teesta for perjury, Godhra accused tells SC
October 18, 2010

Abraham Thomas | New Delhi

Quotes from SIT reports, affidavits to nail her lies

With evidence to suggest that Godhra riots case witnesses were “tutored” by social activist Teesta Setalvad, an accused in one of the riots cases has approached the Supreme Court and demanded that perjury proceedings be initiated against her.

The application filed by Shashikant Patil, an accused in the Narodiya Patiya case (FIR No 100/02), highlighted how false affidavits were filed with the complicity of Teesta and her NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) to mislead the court. The application is expected to be heard on October 26, when similar petitions related to Godhra riots would be heard by a Special Bench of the Supreme Court.

Patil, who is in jail since 2002, has relied heavily on the affidavits and reports filed by the court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), the Gujarat Government, Teesta and certain witnesses before the apex court, to make out a case of perjury against her. If found guilty under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Teesta could end up in prison for a term ranging from three years to even life, depending on how the court views her conduct.

In support of his claim, Patil has quoted a crucial finding of the SIT showing 22 witnesses submitting “identical” affidavits in the court. Upon inquiry, none of the witnesses was aware of the contents recorded in these affidavits and confessed that three of them were sent by Teesta and six witnesses were asked to give contradictory statements regarding the accused.

Even the Gujarat Government highlighted this fact in its affidavit of March 11, 2010. Incidentally, in her reply to the affidavit, Teesta did not contradict any fact nor denied the allegations.

With Teesta’s NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace a petitioner before the Supreme Court and spearheading the campaign for justice for the Gujarat riots victims, the applicant gave further proof to illustrate how the petitioner took undue advantage of her vantage position to mislead the court.

The incident was of Naroda Gaon, where an alleged rape victim filed an affidavit on November 15, 2003, in the Supreme Court and provided a detailed account of her agony and injustice. The affidavit was filed by Nanoomiya Rasoolmiya Malek, the rape victim’s neighbour who claimed to be an eyewitness.

But later in her statement to SIT on May 20, 2008, the victim denied being raped and disclosed that Teesta took her signature on the affidavits but did not reveal to her the contents. The eyewitness Malek too charged Teesta of tampering with his statement. He said, “At the time of drafting the affidavit, I informed Teesta Setalvad, who runs the NGO, not to mention the said incorrect fact in my affidavit and I strongly objected against the same.”

This fact was brought to the apex court’s notice by SIT in one of its status reports.

Pointing out a possible nexus between Teesta and the witnesses, the applicant referred to a news report of December 20, 2008, in The Pioneer, wherein copies of cheques of Rs 1 lakh each issued by Teesta to the victims were produced.

Patil strengthened his case by highlighting the shocking tale of a pregnant Kauser Bano’s womb being ripped open, highlighted by Teesta as a ground to replace the SIT members. On investigation, SIT found the foetus intact and the sensational allegations to be concocted lies.

Quoting the above events, Patil said, “The constant attempts of the respondent (Teesta) in stalling smooth conduct of investigation and trial has resulted in the accused being in jail for a period of eight years without trial.” In this backdrop, the accused has urged the court to initiate perjury proceedings against Teesta under Sections 191-195 of the IPC.