After 14 yrs, man who added fuel to Godhra fire arrested

Ahmedabad: Fourteen years after the Godhra train carnage, which sparked one of the worst-ever communal riots in Gujarat, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) nabbed one of the key conspirators of the attack on Tuesday night.

Farooq Mohammed Bhana, 50, was caught near Kalol-Khadki check post, about 17 km from Godhra in Panchmahal district. Bhana was on his way to Godhra to meet his family members.

ATS officials said Bhana, who was on the run for 14 years, was staying in the slums of Andheri (east) in Mumbai under the fake identity of Mohammed Umar for the last seven years. He even did some petty work on contractual basis at the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation. "We have seized some forged identity documents from him," said an ATS official.

In 2002, Bhana was an independent councillor in the Godhra municipality, representing Polan Bazar ward. His arrest is considered a prized catch as investigators say he was involved in the alleged train burning conspiracy "right from the beginning till the end."

J K Bhatt, inspector general of police, ATS, said, "We suspect that Bhana could have visited Pakistan while being on the run. He was staying in Mumbai for the last seven years. We are probing whether he had procured a fake passport." He was remanded in eight-day SIT custody.

Elaborating on Bhana's role in the train carnage, ATS officials said that he was present at a meeting in Aman Guest House where the conspiracy to burn the train was hatched on February 26, 2002. "Bhana had allegedly instructed other conspirators about the attack plan and directed them to store 140 litres of petrol to burn the coach," said Bhatt.

J R Mothaliya, member of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing Godhra train carnage, said that Bhana was involved in the "entire planning, right from the beginning till the end".

Bhana was produced before the railway court in Godhra and the SIT has sought his 14-day remand.

Till date, 94 accused have been arrested in Godhra train carnage. Out of these 21 were sentenced to life imprisonment and 10 were given death penalty. Later, 63 accused, including the alleged key conspirator Maulana Hussain Umerji, were acquitted. Umerji later died.

According to ATS officials, 13 accused are still absconding. "We have names of three to four while the identity of the others have yet to be established. We have issued red corner notices for two, including Salim Panwala," added an ATS official.

Along with Bhana, the SIT's chargesheet names Salim Panwala Haji Bilal, Razak Kurkur and Salim Zarda as key conspirators. While a red corner notice has been issued against Panwala, other three have already been convicted.



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