The Designated Fast-Track Court hearing the 2002 Naroda Gam riot case,on Thursday,asked the nine fire brigade officials,who were on duty on the day of the incident,to remain present in the court on Friday. All the accused,including former BJP minister Maya Kodnani and VHP leader Jaydeep Patel,were present in the court of judge S M Vohra. Eleven people were killed when a mob attacked the Muslim-dominated Naroda Gam area on February 28,2002. The rioters had even damaged property worth over Rs 4.17 crore in the area. The massacre is among the six riot cases for which the Supreme Court had set up fast-track courts. In Ahmedabad,two special courts have been set up for the trial of the Gulberg Society case and Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gam cases,one in Anand for the Ode case,one in Godhra,one in Palanpur for the murder of British nationals at Prantij (Sabarkantha district) and another one for the Dipada Darwaza (Visnagar) and the Sardarpura (Mehsana) incidents. The apex court had stayed trial in these cases in 2002 after the National Human Rights Commission and a Mumbai-based NGO,Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP),had sought for a CBI probe and trial outside Gujarat.
