Ahmedabad, July 19: Witnesses belonging to the minority community today told the two-member commission probing the post-Godhra riots here that adequate police bandobast and patrolling ensured no disturbances in their localities in the posh Navrangpura area even when the whole city was in the grip of communal carnage. Deposing before Justice (Retd) G T Nanavati and Justice (Retd) K G Shah, one of the four minority community witnesses, businessman Mehmood Allahrakha Ansari said he had closed down his garments shop and called up the police after rampaging mobs gathered outside his shop. "However no damage was done to my shop at all and three to four policemen used to patrol nearby", Ansari said. Another witness Nazir Shamsuddin Sayyed, an autorickshaw driver, said due to police bandobast and location of residential quarters near his house at peer Kamal Kabrastan, the area remained totally incident-free.


Yusuf Patel, a garage-owner and Yusuf Sheikh, a painter also lauded police for their "co-operation" in controlling the rioting mobs.


Considered upmarket area, Navrangpura had not witnessed any killing during post-Godhra violence but some of the big showrooms and shops were looted, police sources said.
Bureau Report