Witness to 2002 post-Godhra massacre stabbed to death in India

Witness to 2002 post-Godhra massacre stabbed to death in India

2011-11-07 04:24:52 GMT+7 (ICT)

AHMEDABAD, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- A witness to one of the worst post-Godhra massacres which happened after the communal riots in the Indian town of Godhra in 2002 was murdered in the western state of Gujarat on Saturday, local media reported on Sunday.

Nadeem Saiyed, who was also a well-known right-to-information activist, was stabbed 28 times by four men in broad daylight in the Juhapura area of Ahmedabad city. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Times of India reported.

Police suspect that he was killed for providing police with information about the illegal slaughter of cattle. On October 29, a mob in Juhapura set a police jeep on fire when police went there after receiving information that an illegal slaughterhouse was operating in the area.

As a Congress worker, Saiyed was a key witness in the Naroda Patia massacre in which 95 Muslims were killed on February 28, 2002. The attack happened shortly after riots erupted in Gujarat following the Godhra train burning accident.

Saiyed visited the Shah Alam relief camp after the massacre where a riot survivor gave him a mobile phone belonging to a key suspect in the massacre. Saiyed had given the phone to the police and his statement had already been recorded.

Family members said Saiyed had been given police protection because he was a witness in a sensitive case, but he had told police he did not need security all the time. He had also filed a police report in August alleging that gangster Mehboob Senior had threatened to kill him if he did not change his statement in the Naroda Patia case.

The Sabarmati Express was set on fire on February 27, 2002, near Godhra railway station where 59 persons, mainly Hindu, were killed. The attack triggered widespread communal riots in Gujarat that claimed the lives of over 1,200 people, mainly Muslims.

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