India Godhra train blaze verdict: 31 convicted, Continue reading the main story

 India Godhra train blaze verdict: 31 convicted, Continue reading the main story

A special court in the western Indian state of Gujarat has found 31 people guilty of setting fire to a passenger train in the town of Godhra in 2002.

More than 90 people were accused of conspiracy and murder. The court acquitted 63 others.

The Sabarmati Express was allegedly attacked by a Muslim mob killing 59 people, mainly Hindu pilgrims.

The attack led to some of the worst riots seen in India and left more than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, dead.

Gujarat’s authorities were criticised for not doing enough to stop the riots.

Those convicted will be sentenced on Friday.

Conspiracy

The attackers were said to have forced the train, carrying Hindu pilgrims, to stop and then set fire to one of the carriages.

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GODHRA TRAIN BURNING

• 27 February 2002: Fire in Sabarmati Express at Godhra kills 59 passengers, mainly Hindus
• 28 February 2002: Religious clashes begin in Gujarat, leaving more than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims dead.
• 21 May 2002: Gujarat government sets up a commission to probe the train fire and the riots
• 3 March 2006: Justice UC Banerjee submits report saying the train fire was an accident
• 25 September 2008: Justice Nanavati’s report describes the train burning as a "pre-planned conspiracy"
• September 2010: A special court completes hearing of the train case

An inquiry commission set up by the state government said in 2008 that the burning of the train was a "pre-planned conspiracy".

But the commission also exonerated Gujarat’s Chief Minister Narendra Modi over the deadly religious riots that followed the blaze.

"There is absolutely no evidence to show that either the chief minister or any of the ministers in his council or police officers played any role in the Godhra incident," Justice GT Nanavati had concluded in his report.

The commission, which examined more than 1,000 witnesses during a six-year period, found that 140 litres of petrol had been purchased as part of what it said had been a conspiracy to burn the train carriage.

The report’s findings contradicted an earlier inquiry by retired Supreme Court judge Umesh Chandra Banerjee, who found that the coach fire was not deliberately started.

He concluded in 2005 that the fire began by accident.

He said there was evidence to suggest the blaze began inside the train and that it was not fire-bombed.

• 27 February 2002: Fire in Sabarmati Express at Godhra kills 59 passengers, mainly Hindus
• 28 February 2002: Religious clashes begin in Gujarat, leaving more than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims dead.
• 21 May 2002: Gujarat government sets up a commission to probe the train fire and the riots
• 3 March 2006: Justice UC Banerjee submits report saying the train fire was an accident
• 25 September 2008: Justice Nanavati’s report describes the train burning as a "pre-planned conspiracy"
• September 2010: A special court completes hearing of the train case