Conspiracy: burning of S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express, Feb. 26, 2002

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/74309/godhra-report-tabled-modi-gets-clean-chit.html (Video)

(Nanavati Commission Report) also added that there was no evidence of them having not been able to provide protection, relief or rehabilitation to any riot victim
The report also said that 140 liters of petrol was purchased as the part of conspiracy to burn the bogey.
The report says Raza Kurkur and Salim Panwala had purchased petrol on the night of February 26 to be used in burning the bogey of Sabarmati Express.
The conspiracy was hatched at Aman guest house and meant to spread terror in the area, the report adds.
Doors of S-6 and S-7 bogey were forcibly opened and a person called Hassan Lalu threw objects which were burning inside the bogey, according to the report. It also said that Molvi Umarji planned the entire conspiracy.
Others named in the conspiracy are Shaukat Lalu, Imran Sheri, Rafique Batuck, Salim Zarda, Jabbir, Sheraj Bala.
As the report was being tabled, Congress legislators staged a walkout in the Assembly.
Meanwhile, spokesperson of Gujarat government and also the Health Minister of the state Jai Narayan Vyas said, “The report has clearly gone into details, analysed all the evidences and has come to the conclusion that there was no failure of machinery as far as maintenance of law and order is concerned."
"It had been conclusively established that Nanavati Commission was a commission, UC Banerjee Committee was just a committee not a commission,” he added.
UC Banerjee, who had headed the Godhra probe, which was ordered by Railways Minister Lalu Prasad, reacted by saying, "I had examined witnesses and had found that there were no traces of petrol found. If there is any contradictory report nothing cannot be said about it, my analysis was based on the witnesses account."
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/nanavati-commission-gives-clean-chit-to-modi/74309-3.html

According to the report, the vestibule between two coaches was cut by two men to pour 140 litres of petrol. Accused Hassan Lala threw burning rags into the coach to set it on fire and the coach was stoned from outside to prevent passengers from stepping out.

The conspiracy was hatched at the house of Moulvi Umerji and executed by two men. Petrol was obtained from a petrol pump in Godhra a day before, says the Nanavati report..

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080066669&ch=9/25/2008%203:22:00%20PM

Nanavati commission gives clean chit to Modi

2008-09-25 14:56:48
Gujarat Global News Network, Gandhinagar
The Nanavati Commission set up to probe the burning of S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express and post Godhra riots has concluded that it was not an accident but a conspiracy. The commission set up by the state government has also given a clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi and has categorically stated that there was no involvement of Modi or his any minister or officer in the post Godhra riots.
The report was tabled in the State Assembly today amidst protest from the opposition Congress which staged a walk out. The report states that there was heavy stone throwing for 10 to 20 minutes at the S-6 and S-7 coaches preventing people to come out. One Hasan Lalu had thrown burning rags at the coaches which led to the fire in which 56 people were killed.
According to the report the conspiracy to burn the coach number S-6 of the Sabarmati Express in which karsevakas were traveling was hatched by Maulvi Umarji along with six others. The plan was given shape at the Aman guest house where all of them stayed the whole night.
Two people- Razak Kurkur and Salim Panwala purchased 140 litres of petrol on February 26, 2002 and took them in containers. Besides these two Shaukat Lalu, Imran Sheri, Rafiq, Salim Zarda, Zabeer and Siraj Bala were involved in the burning of the train, the report says.
Justice Nanavati while giving clean chit to Modi and his government said that there was no evidence of involvement of Modi or any police officer in the post Godhra riots. On the contrary the state government had provided protection and relief to the affected people. There was no flaw in the implementation of the human rights commission laws, the report claims.
The two member inquiry commission was set up by the state government in 2002. After six years it has submitted its report. During the course one of the members Justice K G Shah expired and the government appointed retired Justice Akshay Mehta.
http://www.gujaratglobal.com/nextSub.php?id=4362&catype=NEWS

Nanavati Commission report tabled in Gujarat Assembly: Burning of S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was planned conspiracy
Godhra Commission report gives clean chit to Modi

September 25, 2008 | 15:10 IST
The incident of burning S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, which triggered off violent riots in Gujarat, was a pre-planned conspiracy and not an accident, according to the first part of the Godhra Commission report.
The report was tabled in the Gujarat Assembly on Thursday.
The Gujarat Riots Homepage
The commission gave a clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, stating that no evidence was found against him.
Protesting the findings of the report, the Opposition Congress staged a walkout from the assembly.
The two-member commission headed by Justice G T Nanavati was appointed by the Narendra Modi-led government after the riots.
The commission examined more than 1,000 witnesses during the period of six years.
Further details are awaited.
http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/sep/25modi.htm

Judicial inquiry ordered into Sabarmati Express attack
The Gujarat government has ordered a judicial inquiry into Wednesday's attack on passengers of Sabarmati Express train at Godhra station, Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced on Thursday.
The probe has been ordered under the Commission of Inquiry Act.
Modi said it would be wrong to give the tragedy a communal colour as it was a 'pre-planned attack'.
He termed the incident as 'unfortunate and shameful for the civil society' and said the deceased included a large number of women and children.
"The charred bodies which I saw at Godhra railway station testified the black deed of terrorism," Modi said.
He said the state government has taken the incident very seriously and would take strict action against the culprits and ensure that such incidents do not recur.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/feb/28train7.htm

Fifty-eight killed in attack on Sabarmati Express
At least 58 people, most of them kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya, were killed and 43 injured when miscreants attacked the Sabarmati Express and set afire four of its coaches at Godhra railway station in Gujarat on Wednesday.
Following the incident, large-scale violence and stabbings were reported from Godhra town, Ahmedabad and Baroda.
The dead included women and children, a senior railway official said.
When the train from Faizabad arrived at Godhra railway station at around 8.30 am (IST), the kar sevaks travelling on it and some locals on the platform started shouting slogans.
As the train started moving, someone pulled the emergency chain and it came to a halt near the signal point, where a mob attacked the coaches with petrol and acid bombs, setting them on fire, the official said.
Some passengers were trapped inside the coaches and burned to death, he said.
Mahant Devendradasji, the head priest of a temple in Ahmedabad, who was in the train, said: "A few people began stoning the train without any provocation. As a reaction, people inside the coaches downed shutters."
The mahant said the attackers numbered over 2,000.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee appealed to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to postpone its plan for constructing a temple in Ayodhya. But the VHP said it had no authority to do so and was determined to go ahead with the construction as directed by religious leaders.
The outfit also called for a Gujarat bandh on Thursday to protest against the attack.
Indefinite curfew was clamped in Godhra immediately after the incident, as large-scale violence erupted. Police opened fire at many places to disperse rioting mobs.
In Ahmedabad, a bus was set afire by a mob in Bapunagar, while some passengers of a community were injured in an attack by a group of people, the police said.
In Baroda, one person was stabbed to death and five were injured after a mob attacked them at the waiting hall of Baroda railway station, the police said.
The governments of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal have sounded a high alert and instructed district authorities to ensure law and order in communally sensitive areas.
Among the injured in the attack on the train were 31 men, nine women and three children. Of them, 20 passengers who sustained serious burns were admitted to a hospital at Godhra.
One of the coaches of the 18-bogie train was completely gutted, official sources said.
The passengers stranded at Godhra were brought to Ahmedabad by state transport and private buses.
Two coaches were detached at the Godhra station, while the train with the rest of the coaches arrived at Ahmedabad, railway sources said.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced a probe into the incident and an ex- gratia of Rs 200,000 to the kin of those killed.
PTI
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/feb/27train2.htm