Gujarat riots: Plea to cancel bail of accused admitted
By IANSMonday, August 16, 2010
GANDHINAGAR - The Gujarat High Court Monday admitted a plea for cancelling the bail granted to Babu Bajrangi, a prime accused in the Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots that followed the Godhra train carnage.
Bajrangi has been out on bail for almost eight years.
The state government moved the plea following an investigation by the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team (SIT), which is probing the 2002 riot cases, pointed to Bajrangi’s involvement.
In a sting operation conducted by a news magazine, Bajrangi was caught on camera owning up to the massacre in Naroda Patiya, an Ahmedabad suburb. At least, 95 people were killed by mobs in February 2002 in Naroda Patiya.
A special court hearing the case has taken the tape and the testimony of journalist Ashish Khetan, who conducted the sting operation in 2008 upon numerous persons directly or indirectly involved in the riot, on record.
Further hearing of the case has been fixed for Aug 27.
The 2002 riots in Gujarat claimed at least 1,000 lives, most of them Muslims.
