Ahmedabad city crime branch on Tuesday arrested Imran Batuk, one of the key conspirators of Godhra train burning incident of 2002, from Malegoan in Maharashtra. Crime branch sources claimed Batuk was one of the five main conspirators of burning of the S -6 coach of Sabarmati Express at Godhra railway station on 27 February 2002. Sub inspector Kiran Chaudhary of crime branch claimed they had received a tip-off about Batuk running an illegal sand mining in Malegoan.
Chaudhary added that Batuk, who was on the run for about 14 years, was living in Malegoan since about eight years. Crime branch sources said they had dispatched a team on Monday to nab Batuk and were successful in arresting him on Tuesday noon. “Our team reached Ahmedabad on Wednesday morning with Batuk,” said a crime branch official.
It is note worthy that 59 kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya were charred to death when the coach of the train was set ablaze at Godhra Railway Station. The investigators had claimed that train burning was a conspiracy. Court had acquitted the alleged key conspirator Maulana Hussain Umerji along with some other accused while about 30 accused were convicted. It is also important to mention Godhra train burning incident had sparked major communal riots across the state in 2002 during which about 1000 lives were lost.
