Ahmedabad: Slain former Congress MP Ehsan
Jaffery had made phone calls to then Union Home Minister L K
Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for help
during the post-Godhra riots, a star witness in the Gulburg
Housing Society case told a court here on Tuesday.
Besides the two BJP leaders, Jaffery had also called
former Chief Minister Amarsinh Chaudhary of Congress and the
party's Corporator Badruddin Sheikh for help, Saira Salim
Sandhi told designated Judge B U Joshi.
Deposing before the court, she said former Deputy
Mayor Jagrupsinh Rajput and ex-Congress Corporator Meghsinh
Chaudhary were instigating the mob to attack people of the
minority community on February 28, 2002, when 69 persons,
including Jaffery, were killed in the Gulburg incident here.
Sandhi (48) said she was standing near Jaffery in his
house, while he was making frantic calls to officials and
senior politicians like Advani, Modi, Chaudhary and Sheikh,
seeking protection.
Two key witnesses -- Imtiyaz Pathan and Rupa Mody --
had also testified before the court that Jaffery called Modi
and other senior officials for help.
Sandhi, who lost four family members -- including her
son Mohammed Hussain -- in the violence, narrated how she saw
people being murdered and women raped by the mob.
She identified more than 10 accused in the courtroom,
whom she had named before police and SIT.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 15, 2009, 23:31