Naroda Gam case: Court to record Kodnani's statement on Feb 9

A special court will record on Thursday the statements of former Gujarat Minister Maya Kodnani and ten other accused in the Naroda Gam case of 2002 Gujarat riots in which eleven members of a minority community were killed.

Kodnani, who is serving 28 years in jail in the Naroda Patiya massacre case and is currently out on bail, was scheduled to record the statements along with others before the special SIT judge P B Desai on Tuesday. However, due to the unavailability of the judge, the statements will now be recorded by the court on Thursday.

So far, the court has recorded statements of 48 out of total 83 accused in the Naroda Gam riots case. Naroda Gam massacre is one of the nine 2002 post-Godhra riots cases investigated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Eleven people belonging to the minority community were killed in Naroda Gam during a bandh call given to protest the Godhra train burning incident.

In September last year, the apex court had given the special court six months time to conclude the trial in this case.

Kodnani was sentenced to 28 years jail in the Naroda Patiya case, in which 97 people, mostly belonging to minority community, were killed by a mob.