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Godhra carnage: two more arrested

By Our Special Correspondent

VADODARA MAY 28. Even as the investigation into the Godhra train carnage case is progressing at a snail's pace, two more persons, both claimed to be key accused, have been arrested.

Police claim that the arrests of Habib Behra alias Badshah and Rafique are expected to provide crucial clues. Nearly 125 people have so far been booked, all under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).

Habib's arrest was considered crucial as he is the brother of Zabir Behra, whose statement earlier implicating Moulana Hussain Umaraji, priest of a local mosque in the Signal Falia locality, considerably changed the investigation pattern. Umaraji, who was arrested in February amid strong protests from a section of the local people, confessed having masterminded the entire episode and helped key persons to escape, it is claimed Habib, police claimed, was present at Godhra railway station when the S-6 coach was set afire and escaped from the spot soon afterwards.

Already 30 offences have been registered against Habib.

Meanwhile, the trial in the Best Bakery incident in Vadodara in the aftermath of the Godhra carnage has taken a curious turn with most of the key witnesses turning hostile and some of them even claiming the accused to be actual rescuers.

After Zahira Sheikh, who had registered in police diary the Best Bakery case, in which 12 persons were burnt alive on the first day of the riots on February 28 last year, declined to identify the accused, another witness, Lal Mohammad told the court that he knew each of the 21 accused and they were not part of the 5,000 strong mob which set fire to the bakery.

Naming some of the accused, he told the court that police had ``falsely implicated'' them and claimed that Harshad Ravji and Dinesh Rajbhakt actually helped his family to escape the mob fury. Lal Mohammad claimed that nearly 40 Muslims were given shelter at Harshad's house the entire night and he and Dinesh took turn the next day morning to shift them to the safety of Ektanagar.

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