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Godhra killings were handiwork
of jehadi groups: Probe panel

The Godhra carnage was an act of terrorism sponsored by Pakistan and was executed in connivance with "jehadi forces" based in the town, a five-member study team of the Delhi-based Council for International Affairs and Human Rights has said.

"The objective behind the Godhra carnage was to weaken Indian positions on the border and to make the area more porous for infiltrators and smugglers of drugs and arms by forcing India to divert its forces from the border to civil deployment," the team said in its report titled 'Godhra and After'.

The study team has indicted two Congress members of the Godhra Municipal Corporation -- Abdul Rehman Dhatia and Haji Bilal -- for their alleged role in the ghastly incident.

Questioning the holding of Istema -- religious gatherings -- at Godhra that were attended by a large number of foreigners despite the fact that Godhra is neither a pilgrimage centre nor a city of any tourist importance, the team observed that these were meant to ignite communal passions and acted as a "catalyst" leading to the Godhra catastrophe.

"Given the dismal economic profile of Godhra Muslims, it was intriguing to find a large number of Muslim youth, mostly unemployed, with mobile phones " said Justice D S Tewatia, former chief justice of the Calcutta high court, one of the members of the team.

To substantiate its allegations of a "Pakistani hand" in the Godhra episode, the team claimed there was a very high traffic of telephone calls from Godhra to Karachi before February 27.

Besides Tewatia, the other members of the team were senior advocate J C Batra, academician Krishan Singh, journalist Jawaharlal Kaul and a professor of Guru Jambeshwar University, Hisar, B K Kuthiala.

The report would be presented to Union Home Minister L K Advani on Monday.

PTI

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