SIT Court awards life imprisonment to two accused in Godhra Sabarmati Express train burning case; acquits three others

NewsBharati    27-Aug-2018
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New Delhi, August 27: On Monday, a special trial court sentenced two accused to life imprisonment and acquitted three others in the Godhra Sabarmati Express train burning case. Notably, 60 Hindu Karsevak were burned to death when the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was torched near Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002.

 

The five accused including Hussain Suleman Mohan, Kasam Bhamedi, Faruk Dhantiya, Faruk Bhana and Imran alias Sheru Bhatuk were arrested by different agencies in the year 2015-16 and were put on trial by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Those convicted in the Godhra Sabarmati Express train burning case include Farukh Bhana and Imran alias Sheru Batik while three others including Hussain Suleman Mohan, Kasam Bhamedi and Faruk Dhantiya have been acquitted. Bhana and Imran have been convicted for conspiracy.

However, there are eight other accused who are still absconding. In January this year, Gujarat police arrested Yakub Pataliya who is one of the most wanted accused in the year 2002 Godhra Train burning case. Yakub Pataliya was underground for over 15 years. Earlier, in October last year, the Gujarat High Court commuted the death sentence of 11 convicts to life imprisonment in the case.

Background:

The coach S-6 of the Ahmedabad-Varanasi Sabarmati Express was set ablaze at Gujarat’s Godhra station on February 27, 2002, killing 60 Hindu karsevaks returning from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. On March 1, 2011, a special SIT court had convicted 31 people, accepting the prosecution’s argument that the train burning was not an accident but part of a conspiracy. Eleven people were sentenced to death and 20 others given life in jail. Sixty-three people were acquitted.

However, those acquitted included the prime accused, Maulana Umarji, the then president of Godhra Municipality Mohammad Hussain Kalota, Mohammad Ansari and Nanumiya Chaudhary of Gangapur, Uttar Pradesh.

Later, several appeals were filed in the Gujarat High Court challenging the conviction, while the state government had questioned the acquittal of 63 people. The Nanavati Commission, appointed by the Gujarat government to probe the carnage, had also concluded that the fire in the S-6 coach was not an accident, but it was torched.