S-7 was inspected 5 months later: Expert

A forensic expert told the riots commission on Wednesday that he inspected the S-7 carriage five months after the Godhra carnage, by which t...

A forensic expert told the riots commission on Wednesday that he inspected the S-7 carriage five months after the Godhra carnage, by which time the awning of the vestibule to S-6 had been changed. Deposing before the Justice G.T. Nanavati and Justice K.G. Shah commission, M.N. Joshi said he had examined S-7 carriage, which adjoined the S-6 carriage in which karsevaks were burned to death, only in July 2002.

“The canvas vestibule was changed. I examined the carriage and found some burn marks on the top of the carriage, but I did not include these details in my report and nor did I inform the investigating officers about it,” said Joshi during cross-examination.

Asked if he tried to find out why the vestibule of S-7 was changed, Joshi replied in negative. He said the forensic lab had examined S-7 only after police officers asked for a report.

Story continues below this ad

The scientific officer had also examined the S-6 coach at the Godhra station. Joshi said that on inspecting S-6 coach of the train he had noticed that the rubber vestibule was thick and could not be cut open. Asked how he could say this confidently, he said he was saying this from experience and hadn’t experimented to check.

Joshi said he was only asked to investigate the physical elements of the charred coaches and would not be able to give any information about its burning pattern.

Advocate Mukul Sinha of the Jan Sangharsh Manch also cross examined S Khandelwal, a senior forensic lab official.

Khandelwal said he had neither sought or seen the panchnama of the coaches prepared by police.

In Odisha, Modi mounts ‘loot tantra-vs-bachat utsav’ attack on Congress over GST

India6 hr ago

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday hailed the revised Goods and Services Tax (GST) structures, saying the era of “double bachat (saving) and double kamai (income)” has arrived under the Bharatiya Janata Party rule. Addressing the ' Namo Yuva Samabesh' in Jharsuguda, Modi accused the Congress of indulging in “loot tantra (tactics)” while in power.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS