Kodnani visited Asarwa Civil twice on Feb 28

Two witnesses on behalf of Maya Kodnani, accused in 2002 Naroda gaam riots, were examined on Friday. These included former Asarwa MLA Amrish Patel, who held office from 1998 to 2002, and LIC agent Umesh Dave. The next hearing will be held on July 17. 

Patel submitted that he and Kodnani were together at the Assembly on February 28, 2002. They had entered the hall together after signing in the attendance register. The session ended at 8.40 am after which they left the premises at the same time. They separated at Indroda circle from where Patel went towards Asarwa while Kodnani went towards Sarkhej saying she would be going to Sola Civil Hospital.

Meanwhile, on getting to know about riots in the city, Patel rushed to Asarwa Civil. “Around noon, Mayaben came to the hospital. I met her outside the emergency ward and we went to meet the injured. She was there for half an hour,” said Patel. He told the court he was at the hospital till evening and Kodnani had returned around 4.15 pm. They then went to meet the hospital superintendent. This time, she was at the hospital for 45 minutes. The attendance register was presented in court on Friday as evidence and Patel identified his and Kodnani’s signatures in it.  

The second witness, Umesh Dave, submitted that his paternal uncle Manibhai Dave had been killed in Godhra carnage on February 27, 2002. He and his relatives had reached Sola Civil around 9.30 am the next day to collect the body. “We met Mayaben around 10 am. She helped us with speedy identification and possession of the body. We left the hospital around 11 am. Mayaben was there at that time,” said Dave. He also said that he had seen Babu Patel and Dr Jaydeep Patel, two other accused in the case, at Sola Civil.