Temple Terror: Taxi owner’s son rebuts police identity claim

He said the police arrived at their residence around 8 pm on Thursday. ‘‘Raju was also at our place. The officials questioned them about the passengers and Raju said he had dropped them off near Gate 3 and then returned,’’ he said.

He said his father and Rajubhai were taken away by the police and brought back after around an hour. ‘‘They were taken to Civil Hospital to identify the bodies. But they told the officials that they were not their passengers. This morning, they were called by the police again,’’ he said.

Mansukhbhai Acharya, the 74-year-old taxi owner, has been in this business for many years now. Almost every day, he arrives at the station and helps Rajubhai find a passenger.

‘‘On Tuesday evening, Mansukhbhai, whom we all call Kaka, got two passengers and asked Rajubhai to take them to Akshardham. We know this but it is very difficult to remember what the passengers looked like because for us it was routine,’’ said Surjeet Singh, a driver at the same taxi-stand.

Drivers said Rajubhai told them that he had informed the police that the two who attacked the temple were not his passengers. ‘‘Since he said so, it must be true. Raju and Kaka are simple people and will never get involved in such a thing or lie,’’ said one.