Ahmedabad: Kheda's Superintendent of
Police GL Singhal on Friday deposed before the special court
hearing the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case.
Singhal was warned by the court on Monday after he
had failed to appear before it despite summons.
The IPS officer was summoned as he was investigation
officer of the Naroda Patiya case for over two years, when he
was serving as Dy SP with city crime branch after the
post-Godhra riots in 2002.
Special Judge Jyotsna Yagnik presiding over the case
had taken serious note of his absence on Monday and warned
him not to behave in this manner again. She had said that the
officer should inform in advance if he was unable to attend.
Today, Singhal deposed before the court in connection
with the case where 95 people belonging to minority community
were killed on February 28, 2002.
He was investigating officer from April 2003 to
December 2006 and had filed an additional chargesheet after
arresting two of the accused in the case during this period.
Singhal, when asked if he would be able to identify
the accused he had arrested, said that it has been a long time
so it was difficult, but would make an effort. But he failed
to identify them.
Singhal was later cross-examined by the defence
lawyers on the chargesheet filed by him and with regard to
statements of witnesses which he had recorded when he was
in-charge of the case.
Incidentally, Singhal was one of the officers involved
in the fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others in
2004. The Gujarat High Court had yesterday ordered CBI to
probe the case.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 03, 2011, 00:35