Ahmedabad: The SIT probing the Naroda Gam massacre case of 2002 Gujarat riots on Friday told the special court here that the main accused and former state minister Mayaben Kodnani was present at the spot for around 10 minutes and left after “instigating the mob”.
During Friday’s hearing, special public prosecutor (SPP) Gaurang Vyas told special judge M.K. Dave that concrete evidence in the form of eyewitness accounts establish Kodnani’s presence at Naroda Gam at around 9 am on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning incident.
Questioning the defence witnesses who had claimed that Kodnani was either in the Gujarat Assembly in Gandhinagar, or at her hospital in Ahmedabad or at Sola civil hospital that day, Mr Vyas said that such witnesses were “created only to save Kodnani”.
In her defence, Kodnani had claimed before the court that she was in Gujarat Assembly in Gandhinagar during the early hours of February 28 and then arrived at Sola civil hospital, where bodies of “karsevaks” were brought from Godhra.
Mr Vyas maintained that Kodnani reached Naroda Gam at around 9 am after leaving from Gandhinagar at around 8.40 am.
The SPP said that the records of her mobile tower locations suggests that she reached Sola area at around 10:00 am.
Citing the testimonies of eye witnesses, Mr Vyas said that people of that area saw Kodnani at Naroda Gam during the morning. He said that the case against Kodnani is mainly about instigating the mob by giving a speech outside the Naroda Gam area.
“Eyewitnesses have said that she was there for around 10 minutes. She did not enter the area. She came, made a speech to instigate the mob and left. This case is mainly about inciting the mob,” Mr Vyas said.
On Monday, the court will watch the CD of a sting operation carried out by former Tehelka journalist, Ashish Khetan, on the 2002 riots accused.
The Naroda Gam case is one of the nine major 2002 communal riot cases investigated by the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team. Eleven people belonging to the Muslim community were killed in the Naroda Gam riots.
