Furnish surety bonds, Vadodara victims told

After many months of trying to locate their family members who went missing post-riots and then being forced to give them up for dead, riot-...

After many months of trying to locate their family members who went missing post-riots and then being forced to give them up for dead, riot-hit have another trial in store for them.

Relief workers say the Kalol district administration has asked kin of missing persons to furnish sureties and solvency certificates to obtain the compensation declared by the government. It gets worse: the surety amount runs into lakhs.

The notices were issued by the taluka panchayat office in Kalol on August 9 asking relatives of the 42 missing to furnish the bonds. The notices state that as per the directives of the District Development Officer (DDO), Godhra, relatives of the missing in Kalol taluka would be given compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh but directed the relatives to furnish a surety bond and solvency certificate to avail the compensation.

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Aghast, relief workers have written a memorandum to the President seeking his intervention.

‘‘During the riots, the minority community lost everything. Not only have family members of the 42 missing lost their kin but their property too. How are we supposed to register surety bonds?’’ asked organiser of the relief camp at Kalol, Mukhtar Mohammad.

‘‘Though there is enough evidence to indicate the 42 were killed and their bodies disposed by the rioters, the police put them on the missing list,’’ alleged Mukhtar.

Though District Collector Manoj Agarwal was not available for comment, middle-rung officials at the taluka development office in Kalol confirmed the notices had been issued but maintained they were as per norms.