Maya's Name Vanished From FIR, Reinstated
Ajay Umat | TNN
Ahmedabad: With Narendra Modi in Sadbhavana mode, his government may have distanced itself from former minister Maya Kodnani, sentenced to 28 years in jail for her role in the Naroda Patia massacre. But many believe that behind the scenes, his government left no stone unturned to help her. Judge Jyotsna Yagnik observed in the Naroda Patia verdict that the police helped Kodnani, describing her as “kingpin” of the violence.
The judge's observation came after Kodnani claimed she was a victim of politics. In 2007, Kodnani was elevated as minister of state for women's development and child welfare despite allegations of her involvement in the massacre. The 97 Muslims killed on February 28, 2002, included 36 children and 35 women.
After a 37-month trial, the court observed Kodnani was “tremendously favoured by the then investigating agencies (before the Supreme Court-appointed SIT took over). All care, at the cost of the duty of the investigating officer and even the interest of the victims, was taken to see to it that Kodnani's involvement does not come on the books. This, in fact, comes in the way to believe that Kodnani was ever a victim of any politics.”
Immediately after the verdict, Gujarat government spokesperson Jay Narayan Vyas said Kodnani was not a minister when the riots took place and that an MLA can't be seen as a government functionary. Kodnani was not even named in the first FIR Naroda police lodged, even though the victims named her. She was spared when the probe was transferred to the crime branch in 2002. Complaints accepted after Atal's intervention
Ahmedabad: The victims of the Naroda Patia massacre complained to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his Gujarat visit about police efforts to shield the powerful. Following Vajpayee's instructions, 27 complaints were accepted in March 2002. On the basis of these, a separate FIR - IC/197/2002 was filednaming Kodnani, VHP leader Jaideep Patel and Naroda's police inspector K K Mysorewala.
But the case was closed on the pretext of merging it with the original FIR and names of the powerful removed. When IPS officer Rahul Sharma was asked to assist the crime branch in the riot probe, he suggested that names of these three be included in the chargesheet. Sharma was transferred out of Ahmedabad. But by then, the IPS officer had obtained a CD with call details of prominent people present at various places in Ahmedabad when the riots were taking place, including Naroda Patia.
Sharma furnished the call details before the state governmentappointed Nanavati Commission and the Centre's U C Banerjee committee. Analysis of this data by Nirjhari Mukul Sinha of Jan Sangharsh Manch revealed Kodnani's presence at Naroda Patia during the massacre. The analysis was handed over to the SIT when it took over the probe in 2008. The probe agency had submitted the data to the court. SIT arrested Kodnani in 2009 after which she resigned as minister. Finally, she was served a lifer on August 31.
