By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net
Mumbai: The Narendra Modi government of Gujarat has accepted in an affidavit filed in Gujarat High Court that state minister Maya Kodnani had led the mob, instigated them and distributed swords to carry out the Naroda Muslim massacre during Gujarat riots 2002.
The affidavit says that Kodnani was the alleged leader of the mob, she persuaded the mob to commit crime and she herself fired from her own pistol. The affidavit adds that Kodnani came to the spot in a car with other persons and distributed swords among the mob.
Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is reinvestigating the nine major cases of Gujarat riots had declared Maya Kodnani as absconder accused in Naroda massacre case. After that she went underground and resurfaced only after a lower court granted her anticipatory bail.
The affidavit alleges that the lower court while giving the anticipatory bail to Kodnani neither appreciated the affidavit which was placed on record by the prosecution nor considered the papers of the investigation.
But the lower court granted her the bail on the basis of parity because others who were part of the mob have been given bail.
At least 95 Muslims were killed brutally in Naroda Patia massacre carried out by a mob comprising nearly 15 thousand people on February 28, 2002 during Gujarat riots.
The affidavit was filed in the HC on Thursday on the basis of findings of SIT challenging anticipatory bail given to Kodnani by the lower court.
The matter of the bail came up for hearing on Thursday, but Justice A S Dave of the Gujarat High Court refused to hear the petition saying ‘not before me’. It is said that earlier Dave had to face media criticism as his court accepted the bail petitions of some accused of the riot.
Kodnani presently is the minister of state for higher education in the Gujarat government and attends the ongoing assembly sessions on regular basis.
It is reported that now the case will be heard in front of Justice D H Vaghela on February 24.
Update to the story
The affidavit is actually filed by SIT and not the Gujarat government.