At least five witnesses of the Gulberg Society massacre of February 28,2002,including the prime witness,Saeed Khan,are not happy with the state police protection they have been provided with since 2002. They have now sought for CISF protection before the trial of the case begins. In a recent deposition before the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT),Khan (68),his son,Imtiyaz (27) and three other key witnesses,Firoz Gulzar Mohammed (30),Rafiq Sheikh (26) and Rashid Khan Pathan (35) have asked for CISF protection as soon as possible. The trial in the case is expected to begin soon. The SIT has recently started summoning key witnesses of all the nine 2002 riots cases it is probing. This,the SIT said,is to evaluate the present state of police protection for witnesses who will soon testify before fast-track courts conducting trials in these cases. Khan was among the first five of the 17 witnesses in the Gulberg Society case,who deposed before the SIT on Saturday. We will soon record statements of the other witnesses in the case, said DySP J M Suthar,the investigating officer in the case. Suthar added that the exercise is being done to evaluate the present state of police protection for witnesses in the case. After recording statements of all the 17 witnesses (which may take a couple of days),I will submit a detailed report to my seniors, he added. Meanwhile,Khan said over the phone: I have been given round-the-clock police protection since 2002,but I am not satisfied with the way these policemen perform their duties. In fact,most of the time,they come in plain clothes and do not even bring their firearms. I sense a threat to my and my familys life and so have asked for CISF protection. Like Khan and his son,who stay in the Sonal Cinema area in Vejalpur,Firoz,Raffiq and Rashid,who stay in Sarkhej,Kalupur and Juhapura,areas respectively,have in their statements,alleged laxity on the part of Gujarat policemen who are deputed with them in shifts. Like me,these persons also perceive threat to their lives and have asked for CISF protection, Khan added. Joint Commissioner of Police,Headquarters,H P Singh,whose office is responsible for providing protection to these witnesses,refused to comment on the allegation made by Khan and the others. No one has complained about this to me and I would not like to comment on what they tell the SIT, Singh said. Thirty-nine people,including Congress leader Ehsan Jafri,were butchered in the infamous Gulberg Society riot. The incident had occurred a day after the alleged torching of the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express that claimed 59 lives. In an additional chargesheet filed before a metropolitan court recently,the SIT had declared all the 30 people,who had gone missing from Gulberg Society on February 28,2002,as dead. With this,the official death toll in the massacre now stands at 69. Of the total 84 accused whose names emerged during SIT investigations in the case,70 have been arrested,eight have died and six are still absconding.
