Ex-British diplomat testifies on Skype

Prantij case Ian Reakes found bones of one of the three British nationals killed in the riots.

A former British diplomat to India deposed through video conferencing on Saturday in the killing of three British nationals in Prantij,Sabarkantha,during the 2002 riots.

While the deposition through Skype was a first for the Gujarat riot cases,Ian Reakes also momentarily put Principal District Judge Gita Gopi in a spot when,asked to take oath before he deposed,he said he didnt believe in God.

The court then told Reakes who skyped from the office of a human rights organisation in London that he would have to swear in the name of God or his deposition would be considered incomplete.

Eventually,Reakes said: I swear that what I shall state,shall be the truth,the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God emphasising the God.

It was Reakes who had found bones that confirmed that one of the British Muslims,Saeed Dawood,had indeed died in a brutal attack on his vehicle during the riots.

One of the victims of the incident remains missing,and is now presumed dead.

Howard Parkinson,who was also a diplomat in India back then,has also been summoned as witness.

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In 2002,Imran Dawood,the complainant in the case who survived the attack,had visited India for the first time along with UK-based uncles Saeed Dawood,Shakeel Dawood and Mohammed Naswat.

On February 28,2002,the four were returning to their native village Lajpur near Navsari in Gujarat after visiting Jaipur and Agra. While they were passing by Prantij,a mob of around 20 people had stopped their Tata Sumo and set it on fire.

Naswat and the vehicles driver Yusuf Piraghar were killed on the spot. Shakeel and Saeed remain missing.

Reakes was posted as vice-consul in the office of the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai.

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Bilal Dawood,the relative of one of the victims,requested him to visit Prantij on March 8-9,2002. Before he visited,Reakes said,he had consulted the Gujarat government and got able police assistance.

In Prantij,Reakes said,the police inspector told him they were searching for two missing persons of whom they had no trace. However,on a trip to the site of the fire and surrounding areas based on information provided by locals,he had stumbled upon some human bones.

The local people said a fire had been reported at the factory on the evening of February 28,2002,shortly after Shakeel and Saeed had disappeared. The factory was approximately 400 metres from the burnt Tata Sumo, Reakes told the court.

Forensic tests on the bones found by Reakes confirmed these to be of Saeed.

Six people are facing trial in the case.