SIT chases elusive Maya

She was supposed to appear before the Supreme Court-appointed body in Gandhinagar on Friday. Instead, she went to Godhra, about 150 km away from the capital, to attend an official programme.

Kodnani has been summoned by the SIT in connection with the Naroda Gam and Naroda Patiya riot cases. The minister is accused in both the cases and has been charged with inciting mobs to attack members of the minority community.

While SIT officials waited all day for Kodnani in Gandhinagar, she was at Godhra attending meetings, from where even the media was kept out.

8220;These are personal meetings,8221; the minister reportedly told local journalists. She also declined to comment on the SIT summoning her.

District officials at Godhra, the headquarters of Panchmahals district, confirmed that the minister held meetings with the district collector, district development officer, superintendent of police and other government officials.

The meetings were held in connection with the state-level Republic Day function to be addressed by Governor Naval Kishore Sharma, along with Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers.

A government official, seeking anonymity, said the minister addressed a women8217;s meeting at the

Sardarnagar area, held separate meetings with trustees and management of educational institutions, apart from traders and industrialists of the district.

While the minister could not be contacted, sources close to her claimed she had not received the SIT summon since she had been on a tour for the last couple of days.

Several riot victims had named Kodnani as one of those who egged on the violent mobs. Kodnani, though, had denied the charges, saying she was not present at Naroda when the riots broke out.

Contrary to her claims, Kodnani8217;s mobile phone records allegedly hinted at her presence at Naroda on February 28, 2002.

SIT officials said they would wait one more day for Kodnani to appear before it. If she fails to appear, it will issue her another summon the day after. 8220;If she still fails to appear, legal action will be taken,8221; the official said.

SIT had issued the summons to Kodnani along with VHP leader Jaydeep Patel. Patel deposed before the SIT on Friday.

The names of both Patel and Kodnani had figured in the original FIR lodged in the Naroda Gam case in 2002.

However, on September 4, 2002 the Ahmedabad City Detection of Crime Branch filed a summary report in the court pleading to close the case on the grounds that the FIR had been merged with the police FIR pertaining to the killing of eight people at Naroda Gam.

It had said that the names of both Patel and Kodnani should be removed, as there was no evidence against them.

Finally, Jaydeep Patel deposes before SIT

Vishwa Hindu Parishad VHP leader Jaydeep Patel, who has been named an accused in the 2002 post-Godhra riots by many victims, on Friday deposed before the Special Investigation Team SIT. The Supreme Court-appointed SIT had, through warrants, asked Patel to depose on Thursday, which he failed to do.

According to a senior SIT official, Patel came around 4 pm at the Circuit House in Gandhinagar where the officials questioned him for nearly three hours. He was let off

after recording his statement in the Naroda riots case.

A senior SIT official said, 8220;We have recorded his statement and we8217;ll now verify the same with the facts of the case. If we find any evidence against him, he will be arrested.8221;

Instead of the SIT office in the Old Secretariat, Patel was questioned at the Circuit House due to security reasons. SIT officials, however, refused to divulge details of Patel8217;s statement for the sake of investigation. When contacted, Patel refused to comment on the allegations levelled against him. 8220;I have given my statement to the SIT and I do not want to say anything about the allegations against me,8221; he said.