Ahmedabad, September 1: THE designated POTA court on Wednesday rejected the bail applications of Shoyeb Yusuf Ahmed Kalandar, Mohammed Chanda and Mohammed Yakub Mitha, accused in the Godhra carnage and conspiracy case. The accused had, a fortnight ago, applied for bail through their counsel Y A Charkha.

During the bail hearing, Charkha relied on the fact that witnesses, whose statements were recorded prior to the tabling of the FSL report on burning of the S-6 coach, had not named the accused. One of the accused and conspirators, Yamin Bin Behra, too, does not mention the three accused in his statement, argued Charkha.

Charkha contended that the direction of police investigation changed only after the FSL report came in. The police came up with a conspiracy theory and roped in the accused, he said.

He also argued that the statements of witnesses, on which the prosecution relies, are not trustworthy as these were recorded five to six months after the incident and tabling of the FSL report on the burning of the S-6 coach.

However, the special public prosecutor H M Dhruv and APP Sudhir Bharmbhatt opposed the applications on the grounds that there is clinching evidence against the three, and for this, it relies heavily on the statement of eye-witness Ajay Bariya, a tea vendor at the Godhra Railway Station. The prosecution added there was delay in recording the witness’ statement as he had been working for the accused and feared for his safety.

The court held that a prima facie case has been made out against the accused, and 10 other members of the core group are absconding, too. So, there is a likelihood that if the accused are released on bail, they might thwart the process of law and hence the bail is rejected.

Eye-witness account is against conspiracy theory
EVEN though the Special Investigative Team (SIT) probing the Godhra carnage maintains that S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express was specifically targeted as part of the larger conspiracy to torch the train, eye-witness Ajay Bariya threw more light on the happenings at the Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002. Bariya, in his police statement, had said that when the Sabarmati Express arrived at Godhra, Shoyeb Kalandar and Chanda pelted stones at the train. Chanda also tried to burn the S-2 coach by throwing a cotton rag into it. When he did not succeed, he headed towards the S-6 coach. Bariya also said that Kalandar and Mahmood Mitha were present near the coach at the same time. This statement contradicts SIT’s conspiracy theory.