Search the Internet          Tips

Reports suggesting VHP hand in
Godhra attack absurd: Advani

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on Saturday described as "absurd" media reports suggesting that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad could be involved in the Godhra carnage.

Over 55 passengers, believed to be karsevaks, were burnt alive in coach S-6 of the Sabaramati Express at Godhra on February 27. The incident sparked widespread riots in Gujarat, claiming over 900 lives.

Forensic tests conducted by the Ahmedabad-based Forensic Science Laboratory have shown that about 60 litres of inflammable material was poured into the bogey from inside the train and not outside, as earlier police statements and media reports had suggested.

Advani told rediff.com that the media reports, which indirectly tried to put the blame on the VHP, were speculative in nature. "The forensic report of Godhra event says nothing new. I have the detailed report with me. It is absurd to interpret that VHP is involved in the incident."

The deputy prime minister said intelligence reports had arrived at more or less the same conclusion as the forensic lab's report.

"Our report clearly indicates that [two] persons who had boarded the train earlier used petrol to douse the bogey from inside. It is absolutely absurd to say that karsevaks coming from Ayodhya did it to kill their own people," he said.

While probing the case, police investigators and forensic experts carried a simulated exercise to ascertain how the ill-fated coach caught fire. This is what the report had to say: "The physical observation of the compartment revealed that the maximum impact on the lower portion of the coach was from inside whereas the upper portion of the coach did not bear the same extent of damage. When petrol was sprinkled from outside [during the simulated exercise], it was found that sufficient petrol would not seep into the coach to cause such damage inside. This led to the conclusion that the petrol had been spread from inside the compartment. Is was also found that at the place where the train stopped, there is a slight gradient, which helped in spreading the petrol very quickly to the whole compartment.

"During the course of investigation, it was found that after the train left the Godhra railway station [it was set afire at the outer signal], all four doors of the S-6 compartment were closed. The vestibule of the coach was cut and the assailants entered the compartment along with petrol through this route."

The Sabarmati in Flames: Complete Coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report