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Watching the the social workers and politicians did not incite the mob

Seeing the social workers and politicians did not incite the mob

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Maya Kodnani and amit shah
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The mob outside Sola Civil Hospital on February 28, 2002, was already riled up and seeing social workers and politicians did not incite them in any way. Mayaben Kodnani had stayed at the hospital for nearly an hour that day and that was also the first time I met her in my life, Bharat Patel, a defence witness on behalf of former Naroda MLA Kodnani, submitted during his cross-examination on Wednesday. 

Special public prosecutor SC Shah was cross-examining Patel, who stated, “The Godhra train carnage of February 27, 2002, did not spark any movements in Naroda that day. My friends Satish Vyas and Manoj Chhaparia, who were travelling on Sabarmati Express on day of the incident, were supposed to arrive at Maninagar railway station along with other survivors the same evening. While Chapparia arrived, there was no news of Vyas and due to chaos we could not discuss his whereabouts. We left for home around 8pm. Later, upon inquiry, we (Patel and then Odhav councilor Jagdish Patel) found out that he had died and that his body would be brought to Sola Civil.”

“Upon reaching the hospital the next morning to claim Vyas’ body, I saw Amit Shah, but did not meet him. Later, I met Mayaben and we (Patel and Jagdish) left the hospital building with her, where Shah was already standing and watching a sloganeering mob, which soon started to get unruly. Upon seeing this, police cordoned Shah and Mayaben and escorted them one after the other to the police van. However, the mob was already riled up and it was not upon seeing Shah and Mayaben that they started sloganeering. I heard about Mayaben being apprehended in the Naroda gaam rioting case after reading a newspaper in 2008.”

Upon being asked the name of the officer who took his statement, Patel said, “I do not know the name of the SIT officer who recorded my statement.”

Further hearing in the matter has been scheduled for Friday.

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