The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Gujarat on Wednesday arrested one of the key conspirators of the infamous Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002 which claimed the lives of 59 kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya.
The accused, 55-year-old Farooq Mohammad Bhana, who allegedly carried kerosene to torch the S-6 bogie of the Sabarmati Express train just as it chugged out of Godhra Railway Station, was picked up in the morning from a toll booth in Kalol, around 25 km from Godhra city in central Gujarat.
Bhana also faces the charge of provoking a mob of people to attack and burn the train. He, along with Bilal Haji, allegedly instructed the other accused to burn the train coach as per the instructions received from late Maulana Umarji, who was arrested as a mastermind but later released.
Till date, 94 people have been arrested for the Godhra train burning and 31 were found guilty. Of these, 11 have been given death sentences and the remaining 20 life imprisonment. The train burning incident had followed the communal conflagration in which over 1,000 people lost their lives.
Apart from Bhana, Bilal Haji, Razak Kurkur, the owner of Aman Guest House, were found to be the main conspirators. It was stated that Bhana, Samir Panwala, Salim Zarda and Salim Bana, had met at Aman Guest House on February 26, 2002, and hatched the conspiracy to burn the coach full of kar sevaks. It is believed that after the Godhra train incident, Farooq Bhana and another conspirator Samir Panwala, left Godhra for Mumbai. He had been on the run since the last 14 years.
The police suspected that Bhana had taken shelter in Pakistan and accordingly, got a Red Corner Notice issued against him. However, for the last six to seven years, Bhana is believed to have been in Mumbai. According to officials he did not visit Godhra as he was aware of police attempts to nab him. As a long time had elapsed, he is learnt to have begun visiting his family in Godhra.
Sources in ATS said that the police would interrogate Bhana about his role in the conspiracy as well as his whereabouts in the last 14 years on the run. Investigating officials said Farooq Bhana, a former corporator of Godhra Municipality, was one of the key planners of the attack on the train. The ATS on its part would hand over Bhana to the Special Investigation Team in Gandhinagar, which has been probing the conspiracy.
