SC issues notice to Gujarat in post Godhra riot case

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Gujarat Government on a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the killings of 21 persons in post-Godhra riots, whose bodies were exhumed in 2005.

New Delhi, Aug 31 : The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Gujarat Government on a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the killings of 21 persons in post-Godhra riots, whose bodies were exhumed in 2005.

A Bench headed by Justice B N Aggarwal sought reply from the State Government and the CBI within four weeks.

In 2005 at least 21 skeletal remains of those believed to have been killed in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots were exhumed from a mass grave in Panchamahal district of the State.

The bodies were dug out by relatives of people, who went missing after the riot.

The Gujarat High Court had ordered the DNA testing of the skeletal remains unearthed be collected and had sent to a laboratory in Hyderabad for DNA testing under the supervision of CBI.

Of the 21 bodies, DNA of eight had matched with their relatives.

Over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in Gujarat in retaliation for the burning alive of 59 Hindu pilgrims on February 27,2002 at Godhra town by a suspected Muslim mob.

ANI