2 Gulberg accused surrender

Former president of the Bajrang Dal’s Ahmedabad city unit, Atul Vaidhya, and former Congress municipal councillor, Meghsinh Chaudhary, surrendered before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the post-Godhra riots in 2002 on the supreme court’s directive. 

Vaidhya surrendered himself after withdrawing the anticipatory bail application filed by him in the Gujarat high court. “Both of them were wanted in the Gulberg massacre case for mobilising rioters as well as actively taking part in rioting,” an SIT source close to the investigation said.

Vaidhya and Chaudhary surrendered themselves at the SIT office in Gandhinagar at around 1.30 pm on Friday. “Vaidhya was pessimistic about his anticipatory bail application being allowed by the high court and so could have withdrawn it,” a source in the SIT said.

The SIT will produce these two high-profile accused in the metropolitan court on Saturday and may also seek their remand for further investigation. “The culprits were present among the rioters’ crowd and played an important role in the Gulberg massacre,” the SIT source said. 

Vaidhya was the city president of Bajrang Dal during the incident, while Chaudhary was a municipal councillor belonging to the Congress. He was probably the only councillor from the Congress to take part in the rioting.

Bipin Patel, another high-profile accused in the Gulberg case, may also surrender before the SIT on Saturday.