1 more gets life term in 2002 Godhra case

Ahmedabad, March 20

Yakub Gani Pataliya, who had been absconding for about 16 years, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the Godhra train carnage of 2002.

A special SIT court pronounced the sentence in the Sabarmati Central Jail on the outskirts of Ahmedabad where the in-camera trial was held. Pataliya was found guilty of attempt to murder and conspiracy to set on fire S-6 coach of the Sabamati Express outside the Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002, in which 59 “kar sevaks” were killed while returning from Ayodhya, thus triggering riots in the state.

Pataliya was arrested from Godhra in January last year when he came to his home town to meet his family. He was pronounced guilty by SIT court judge HC Vora on the basis of submissions made by five other co-accused in the case earlier.

The special SIT court convicted 31 persons in the case on March 1, 2011. — OC