THE LEGAL TRUTH ABOUT THE LIES OF GODHRA

The prosecution’s conspiracy theory against Godhra Muslims rested primarily on five sets of witnesses

1. Nine BJPmen who claimed to be eyewitnesses to the carnage

These men accused 41 Muslims who spent nine years in jail. A TEHELKA sting caught two of these BJP men admitting on camera they were actually at home that day and the police fabricated their statements. They went along to “serve the cause of Hindutva”. The judge has now discarded all nine testimonies

2. Ajay Baria, a Hindu vendor, forced into the plot; saw it all

Judge Patel has relied hugely on Baria’s account. But why would Muslim conspirators pick a Hindu man at the last minute to help load the petrol and burn the train? TEHELKA tried to track him but failed. His mother said he had been coerced into becoming a police witness and lived under constant police surveillance.

3. Two petrol pump attendants who claim they sold 140 litres of fuel to some Muslims on 26 Feb
Ranjitsinh and Pratapsinh Patel had first told the police that they had not sold any loose petrol that crucial night. In a shocking turnaround, six months later, they changed their version. However, TEHELKA caught Ranjitsinh admitting on camera that he and Pratap had been bribed Rs. 50,000 by police officer Noel Parmar to do that. He also tutored them to identify particular Muslims in court as being the buyers

4. Jabir Bahera, a petty criminal, who first named Maulvi Umarji as a mastermind

Bahera claimed it was Umarji who picked coach S-6 as the target, but also said Umarji was not at any conspiracy meetings. He later retracted everything

5. Sikandar Siddique, another petty criminal, said he had pulled the chain the second time Siddique is an obvious unreliable witness. Besides Umarji, he had said Maulvi Punjabi had incited the mob. But Punjabi was not even in the country that day