Maya Kodnani was not present in Naroda Gam on day of riots: Amit Shah tells court

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New Delhi: Defending Maya Kodnani in 2002 Naroda Gam riot case, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah, who appeared at Ahmedabad Sessions Court on Monday, as a defence witness, said that the former Gujarat minister was not present in Naroda Gam, on the day riots broke out. 

As per the reports of ANI, Shah claimed that from 9:30 AM to 9:45 AM he was at the Civil Hospital and had met Kodnani there.

"From 9:30 to 9:45 AM, I was at the Sola Civil Hospital, and I remember seeing Jaideep Patel and other leaders. I met Maya Kodnani while leaving the hospital around 11:00-11:30 a.m. The enraged public had surrounded us, so the police cordoned both of us out in the same jeep," he said.

From 9:30 am to 9:45 am I was at the Civil Hospital & I met Maya Kodnani there: Amit Shah in Ahmedabad Court

— ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2017

On a petition filed by Kodnani, special SIT judge P B Desai had summoned Shah last week to appear before the court on September 18. The court had said that it will not re-issue the summons in case Shah fails to present himself on a given date.

Kodnani, former Minister for Women and Child Welfare in the Narendra Modi government in the state, is a convict in the mass murder of 97 Muslims in Naroda Patiya, an area adjoining Naroda Gam where 11 people were killed on February 28, 2002.

What is Naroda Gam riot case? 

The massacre in Naroda Gam in Ahmedabad is one of the nine major 2002 communal riots cases which were investigated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Eleven persons belonging to the minority community were killed in Naroda Gam in the 2002 riots, during a bandh called to protest the Godhra train burning incident.

A total of 82 persons are facing trial in the case.

Earlier in 2012, Kodnani was convicted on similar charges and sentenced to life imprisonment for her role in Naroda Patiya massacre, where she was termed a 'kingpin'.