SIT submits report on Gulbarg massacre case

AHMEDABAD: The Supreme Courtappointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) late on Wednesday evening submitted its final report on Gulbarg Society massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots before a magisterial court.

The submission was made in a sealed cover in court no. 11 of the Ahmedabad metropolitan court.

Sources claimed the SIT, headed by former CBI director RK Raghavan, has sought closure of the case against Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 62 others named in the complaint. But Hindustan Times could not make any independent confirmation of the claim.

The complaint was filed by Zakia Jafri, whose husband and ex-congress MP Ehsan Jaffri was among the 69 people killed in the Gulbarg massacre of February 28, 2002.

Zakia had demanded prosecution of Modi and others, saying they conspired to allow antiminority riots in the state after the burning of a coach of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra station on February 27, 2002. Fifty-nine kar sevaks were killed in the attack.

“I cannot comment on the issue. Only Raghavan can talk to the press,” SIT investigation officer Himanshu Shukla told HT. Efforts were made to contact Raghavan, but he was not reachable.

The sources claimed the SIT has stated in the report that there was no prosecutable evidence against Modi and others and legal opinions sought on the basis of the evidence in the case had ruled out the possibility of their prosecution.