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STAFF OF RAILWAY
STATION GODHRA
The staff at the
Railway Station Godhra told the team that no serious quarrel took place
on the platform when the train halted there for about 05 minutes.
Immediately after the train started moving it stopped and few left-out
passengers boarded the train and it started again. A mob of about 1000
Muslims ahead of the Railway Station started pelting stones etc. on the
train. The train after moving about 700 metres stopped once again but
with a jerk as a result of chain pulling. The vacuum pipe of the Coach
No. S-6 was cut. The mob had by then swelled to more than 2000. They
stoned the train and also threw burning missiles, concentrating on S-6
and S-7. Soon the Coach no S-6 was seen burning and the flames reached
outside the coach in no time. Railway Police rushed to the scene and
after initial hesitation fired in the air to disperse the mob which did
not pay much heed and kept shouting and throwing missiles even at the
police and the crowd comprising railway officials, passengers of the
other coaches of the train and bystanders.
Fire brigade reached
the site after about half an hour (from the time of the departure of the
train from the platform). It took about half an hour to extinguish the
flames and cool down the S-6 coach. District administration reached the
spot after the fire had almost been extinguished and the mob had
withdrawn to a distant place but was still shouting slogans. All through
voices were heard on loudspeakers from both the sides of the railway
track inciting the mob to kill and burn the infidels (kafirs) and
the enemies of Bin Laden. With the help of civilians, the injured were
taken to the
Civil
Hospital
and the dead were brought out and counted. Burnt bodies of passengers
were identified with the help of other passengers of the train including
those of S-6 who had escaped unhurt or were not seriously injured.
DISTRICT
ADMINSTRATION, GODHRA
As per the
presentation made by the Collector of Panchmahal at Godhra, the
Sabarmati express arrived at Godhra Railway station at 7.43 am
(scheduled arrival at 2.55a.m.). Train departed at 7.48 a.m. and was
stopped at a distance of 1km from Godhra railway station by pulling
chain at "Signal Faliya". A mob of about 2000 miscreants attacked the
train with stones and firebombs. Bogies no S/5 and S/6 were set on fire,
bogies S/6 was completely burnt with 58 passengers in it including 26
women, 12 children and 20 men roasted alive.
D.S.P. rushed to the
spot as soon as he got the information about the incident. Relief work
started immediately by the Collector. Arrangements for firefighters were
made. Along with the arrangements of Ambulance Van and ST Buses from RTO.
Team of three doctors rushed to the site. Twentyfive passengers were
treated on site. Food packets, drinking water was made available to
stranded passengers. 43 injured passengers were shifted to civil
hospital. Police fired 14 rounds and 30 teargas shells to prevent the
mob from causing further damage. Curfew was imposed in the town at
10.55am. Collector with senior railway officers entered the burnt
carriage to assess the casualties - 58 dead bodies found. Train departed
for Ahmedabad with the rest of passengers at 12.40 pm. Inquest &
post-mortem of all bodies was done by 4.30 pm. Bodies dispatched at
10.30 pm to Civil hospital, Sola, Ahmedabad.
PASSEMGERS TRAVELLING
IN SABARMATI EXPRESS ON 27.02.02 IN COACH NO S-6
Kamala
(name changed in view of threats received and bomb attack on her a day
before she was interviewed by the Study Team on O4.02.02), a college
student, went to Ayodhya along with her parents and two sisters to
perform the purana ahuti of the Ram jaap her mother was
doing for the last one month. The family boarded the train at Faizabad
in Coach no S-6 on 26.02.02 at about 0800 hours. There were many
passengers on the train who were chanting Ram naam and
occasionally chanting jai Sri ram. In the morning of 27.02.02 the
train was at Godhra railway station and as soon as it moved, a barrage
of stones were thrown at the compartment. Terrified and taken aback, the
passengers closed the windows.
The train stopped for
a few moments and again started. After about 2-3 minutes the train
stopped with a strong jerk and the passengers and the luggage were
rattled. Stones were being thrown with greater intensity. Mob outside
the train was pounding upon the windows and doors. Somebody from outside
the train was able to open a window and threw a burning object into the
compartment. It fell on the luggage and the fire started. Some
passengers stated stamping on the fire, but more burning objects were
thrown in as the mob broke open more windows. Some liquid was also
poured in from the windows, which intensified the fire. Iron grills of
some windows were detached from one side and bent to pick up the
passengers luggage. This luggage was set on fire and thrown back into
the coach. The passengers were terribly shaken and shouting for help.
Some of them were able to open the door and get out.
Soon the entire coach
was gutted. Smoke was so thick that it was impossible to breathe or see
anything. She looked for her family members in vain and dropped out of
the train from a window whose grill had been bent and detached from one
side. Lying of the ground she could breathe a little and saw a huge mob
with swords and iron rods hurling abuses at Hindus. She moved below the
coach from where she was rescued after sometime. She may have remained
unconscious for some time. She later identified the charred bodies of
her mother, father and two sisters. One sister was an engineer and the
other was a commerce graduate.
The same train took
her to Ahmedabad where she now lives with her younger sister. She has
already got Rs. 50,000 as relief and expects more. She told the team
that she had heard certain Muslims saying that a lot of trouble was
caused to them because of her narration of the Godhra tragedy and that
she would be eliminated. A bomb was thrown into the room in which she
was sleeping a day before the team met her. Fortunately, it did not
explode. The matter was reported to the police who are investigating the
case.
Raghu
(name changed for reasons of security of the witness) was traveling in
Coach no S-6 of Sabarmati Express on 27.02.02 and his narration of the
events is similar to those of Kamala. When the coach was set on fire he
went up on the upper berth in the hope that the fire will soon be
extinguished. But when he got a feeling of choking because of thick
smoke he moved from one upper berth to another towards the door but was
defeated in his first attempt because of the flames. He returned and
after some time desperate to breathe again made an attempt and was able
to reach the door where a passenger whom he had earlier seen in the
train dragged him outside. He fell unconscious and was given water and
sugar by a lady who was managing the passengers belonging to Ahmedabad.
Though he felt dizzy he received no burn injuries except that his hair
were partly burnt. His father and uncle were burnt alive in the same
coach.
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