Gujarat: riot organisers Kondani and Patel out on bail

Mail Today, May 19, 2009

Gujarat riots breather for Kodnani

GUJARAT’S former minister for higher education, Maya Kodnani, and VHP heavyweight Jaydeep Patel, were granted bail by an Ahmedabad sessions court on Tuesday.

On March 27, they had surrendered before the Special Investigation Team ( SIT) reinvestigating the 2002 Gujarat riot cases, after the state high court rejected their anticipatory bail plea. They moved the sessions court for a bail in April.

While granting bail, the court asked Kodnani and Patel to deposit their passports. They can’t leave Gujarat without the court’s permission. They have also been asked to make themselves available to the SIT as and when needed.

Patel has been accused of the carnage in Naroda Gam while Kodnani has been accused in the Naroda Gam and Naroda Patiya massacres. As many as 106 people were killed in these two massacres on February 28, 2002. Around 40 witnesses and riot victims had testified against the duo.

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