2002 Godhra train carnage: SIT court sentences convict Yakub Pataliya to life imprisonment

A special SIT court in Ahmedabad on Wednesday sentenced convict Yakub Pataliya to life imprisonment in connection with the 2002 Godhra train carnage case in which 59 'karsevaks' were burnt alive in two coaches of the Sabarmati Express.

Earlier in August 2018, the SIT court had convicted Farooq Bhana and Imran Sheru and awarded them life sentence, while acquitting three others, identified as Hussain Suleman Mohan, Kasam Bhamedi and Faruk Dhantiya.

Earlier, the special SIT court had convicted 31 people in the case on March 1, 2011.

The lower court had accepted the prosecution’s contention that there was a conspiracy behind the incident.

All the 31 were convicted under IPC sections related to murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy.

Those acquitted included prime accused Maulana Umarji, then president of Godhra municipality Mohammad Hussain Kalota, Mohammad Ansari and Nanumiya Chaudhary of Gangapur in Uttar Pradesh.

The court had later awarded death sentence to 11 of them and life imprisonment to 20 others.

However, the Gujarat High Court had in October 2017 commuted the death sentence of 11 convicts to life imprisonment while upholding the punishment awarded by the special SIT court to 20 others.

Fifty-nine 'karsevaks' were killed in the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002, triggering the worst communal riots in the history of Gujarat in which over 1,000 people, mostly belonging to the minority community, were killed.