Sardarpura massacre case: Plea for further probe rejected

The Special Trial Court for the 2002 Sardarpura massacre case,on Wednesday,rejected the application praying direction to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to further probe certain aspects of the case. The complainant and eyewitness in the case,Ibrahim Shaikh,had moved the plea.

He had demanded to make the CD containing a sting operation,in which a number of saffron leaders were found making certain confessions related to the riots in Gujarat,as part of the on-record evidence in the case. It was carried out and broadcast by a private media group. The application had also demanded to make the reporter who did the sting operation as one of the witnesses in the case.

Shaikh’s lawyer,Yusuf Shaikh,said there is evidence to show that former BJP MLA Haresh Bhatt had distributed ‘trishuls’ to the accused in Sardarpura. The applicant had contended that the conspiracy has not been properly probed since many influential persons have not been named accused.

“The court has rejected the application. We will decide our further course of action after going through the order,” said advocate Shaikh. Thirty-three people were burnt alive at a house in Sardarpura village in Mehsana district on March 1,2002. The case is one of the nine cases that the Supreme Court ordered to be further probed. S C Srivastava is holding the trial at Mehsana.