Why Sabarmati Express stopped again at Godhra

AHMEDABAD: Fresh light has been shed on how the Sabarmati Express came to a grinding halt after leaving Godhra railway station on February 27 this year, sparking off some of the worst communal riots ever seen in India.
A rickshaw-puller, who doubled up as a cigarette vendor on the platform, has reportedly confessed before a judicial magistrate that he had turned the disc of the train to release the vacuum, bringing it to a stop for the second time.
The train had been stopped for the first time when kar sevaks pulled the chain to enable their colleagues, who were left behind on the platform, to get in. The 21-year-old from Polan Bazar, requesting anonymity, has reportedly admitted that he was provoked by some people shouting on the platform that a "a Muslim girl had been pulled inside the Sabarmati Express".
This, he claims in the last paragraph of his testimony, was a "rumour" circulated by an accused.
He claims in his testimony that a fracas broke out on the platform because the kar sevaks had a payment dispute with a tea vendor, Siddique Bakr and also beat up a rickshaw-puller. It was only then that the police intervened.
Before this, the kar sevaks had an altercation with one Mehboob Latiko, he says. Latiko then ran towards Signal Falia and called all Ghanchi Muslims out and the stone-throwing began. "The stone-throwing went on for about five minutes after which the passengers got inside the train and shut off all the windows and doors on the platform side and the train started," he states.
"After that Salim Razi Badam came running from towards the parcel office screaming ‘Somebody should stop the train, somebody should pull the chain, the kar sevaks have pulled a Muslim girl inside’."
Badam is the leader of the union of kiosk operators, according to the testimony — a copy of which is available with The Times of India.
He then ran towards "A" cabin and stood in the open space behind it where he saw Latko, Shaukat Laalu, Irfan Patariya, Ramzani Biniyamin and others running towards the train with petrol filled cans.
"They were trying to burn the train. Behind them, Yakub Patariya, Kadir Patariya, Ayub Patariya, Mehboob Chando, Imran Sheru and Yunus Ghadiyali were running with iron rods, pipes, sticks towards the train and were breaking the window panes with rods," he says. It was after this, they set the train on fire.