Gujarat probes did fact-fudging, helped shield Modi, says new book

The death of 59 Hindus after a Muslim mob allegedly set fire to a train car near the Godhra station on Feb 27, 2002, triggered bloody retaliation against Muslims in Gujarat, leaving hundreds dead.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up in 2008 under the Supreme Court's supervision "did not prove to be independent enough" and "toed the Gujarat Police line on Godhra" killings, the book says.

Even as it secured convictions in the Godhra case against Muslims and in post-Godhra violence against Hindus, the SIT frittered away crucial evidence that could have implicated the guilty, it says.

Mitta trashes the SIT for refusing to challenge Modi's replies when he was questioned over the riots, which at one time led then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajapyee to ask the chief minister to uphold "rajdharma".

"At no point did (SIT member A.K.) Malhotra make the slightest effort to pin Modi down on any gaps and contradictions in his testimony... The SIT refrained from asking a single follow-up question...

"Malhotra's approach ... helped Modi get off the hook on more than one issue."