The Gujarat Police on January 30 arrested an accused in the 2002 Godhra train carnage. Yakub Pataliya, 63, was on the run for the last 16 years
He was arrested from Godhra by a police team after they received a tip-off that he was spotted in a locality on January 30 morning, the official said. “During patrolling, a team of Godhra B Division Police received information about the presence of the accused. He was arrested soon after,” the official said. He will be handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is investigating the case, the official added.
Yakub Pataliya is accused of being a part of the mob that torched the coaches of Sabarmati Express near Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002, killing 59 kar sevaks and triggering State-wide riots.
An FIR was registered against him in September 2002 and he faces charges under several sections as well as certain sections of the Railways Act. “He had been evading arrest ever since,” police said.
Yakub Pataliya’s brother, Kadir Pataliya, was also arrested in 2015, and died in jail during trial. His other brother, Ayub Pataliya, is serving life imprisonment in Vadodara Central Jail.
In a judgement passed in October 2017, the Gujarat High Court had commuted the death sentence of 11 to life imprisonment , while upholding the life sentence of 20 other convicts in the case. A trial court had convicted 31 and acquitted 63 accused. The High Court had upheld the acquittals.
