Part VII: Evidence destroyed, records fudged
http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/22/stories/2005012205451100.htm
Truth about Godhra-VII
Evidence destroyed, records fudged
By Siddharth Varadarajan
NEW DELHI, JAN. 21. Arguably the most serious - and suspicious - of
all post-incident Railways lapses pointed out by the Justice Banerjee
committee was the decision to let coach S-7, which also sustained
damage, proceed to Ahmedabad with the rest of the train. Curiously,
coach S-5, which sustained the same kind of damage to its windowpanes
as S-7, was detached along with the burnt remains of S-6.
Incidentally, the Railways note on the condition of the coaches after
the incident says clearly that although the connecting vestibule of S-5
was "completely burnt," the vestibule of S-7 was only "burnt." There is
no mention of the vestibule having been cut, as the police charge sheet
in the case stated subsequently - pursuant to its theory that
miscreants entered S-6 by cutting open the S-7 vestibule and set it on
fire by pouring petrol from inside.
Sold as scrap
Once S-7 arrived in Ahmedabad, however, it was marked "sick" and
withdrawn from service the same day. Repaired six days later, the burnt
vestibule was "disposed off in the scrap." Mr. Justice Banerjee writes:
"Had S-7 been made available along with S-5 and in the event of an
examination thereof, one could come to a definite conclusion (about
whether the vestibule had been slit) but the same cannot possibly be
had since the evidence stands destroyed."
Among the other post-incident procedures violated were the failure to
get track, carriage and wagon and vacuum power certifications done as
required. Rule 317 of the Accident Manual, which says arrangements must
be made for photographs to be taken of all essential aspects of an
untoward incident, was also not followed, thus robbing the Railways of
photographic evidence that would have been useful not just for
analysing the cause of the fire but also the dynamics of its spread.
"Invented claim"
The Godhra report uses scathing words to criticise senior rail
officials for "inventing" the claim that miscreants had locked the
doors of coach S-6 from outside. "Admittedly, the coaches can be locked
from outside with a master key, which is invariably with the Railways
administration," Mr. Justice Banerjee says. "Does the Divisional
Railway Manager, Baroda, (who wrote that the doors were locked) want to
suggest involvement of a high Railway official, otherwise there cannot
be any such locking of the door from the outside." The rail experts
advising me have said in no uncertain terms that the closure of four
doors from the outside just cannot happen, Mr. Justice Banerjee writes.
"Then why did the DRM write in his report in that fashion... is it
total non-application of mind or something other than that - the
answer will have to be found out."
Mr. Justice Banerjee also criticises the Railway authorities' actions
in the run-up to the Sabarmati Express's arrival at Godhra. The report
notes that the ticket examiner could not get access to S-6 and other
coaches because they were filled with kar sevaks and had sent a message
at Ujjain - en route to Godhra - for additional railway police to
be made available at Ratlam station, 90 minutes away. At Ratlam,
however, no arrangement was made, despite the obvious dangers involved
in such overcrowding.
Intelligence report
The Gujarat police and Railways also failed to act on an intelligence
report sent out 11 days prior to the incident by R.B. Sreekumar,
Additional Director-General of Police (Intelligence), that a large
group of kar sevaks ("They will carry `trishul' with them," Mr.
Sreekumar's message had noted) would be returning by the Sabarmati
Express from Ayodhya on February 2, 2002. Thus, no additional bandobast
was made.
"The entire approach seems to be very casual and unfortunately, the
high-ups in the Western Railway administration did not adhere to even
the basic statutory rules and observance of which (sic) is mandatory.
The Accident Manual, which contains so many do's and don'ts, has been
given a complete go by," Mr. Justice Banerjee notes.
Curiously, though a crucial aspect of the police case is that the train
was forced to stop near Cabin `A' just outside Godhra station by
someone from the mob of miscreants either by pulling the chain from
inside or altering the clappet valve or kicking aside the hose coupling
for the vacuum pipe from outside, the Railways has no record of either
a second chain-pulling or of a dangling hose-pipe being set right.
(Concluded)
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