Ahmedabad:
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Wednesday arrested Farooq Bhana, the main accused in the 2002 Godhra train burning case, which had triggered communal riots in the state. Bhana was absconding since 2002.
The Sabarmati Express was set on fire on February 27, 2002, by a mob in Godhra, about 125 km from here. The horrific incident had left 59 passengers dead. Bhana is the fourth absconding accused to be arrested in the Godhra train burning case. Widespread communal riots, that killed more than 1000 people, were triggered in Gujarat following the ghastly train attack.
The ATS had arrested Kasam Ibrahim Bhamedi last year in the case, Bhamedi was one of the group of people who pelted stones and broke the window panes of the S6 coach of Sabarmati Express before it was set ablaze in 2002. In 2015, two other accused, Kadir Abdul Gani and Hussain Suleman Mohan, were also arrested in the case.