Godhra cases: SIT seeks extension from SC

A special investigation team (SIT) conducting preliminary inquiry on a complaint against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 62 others in a riot case has sought extension from the Supreme Court, officials said here today.

SIT, whose term ended on December 31, 2009, has already submitted a progress report on the probe to the apex court and further hearing on the matter is scheduled for later this month, they said. The SIT, constituted by the apex court to investigate the Godhra train carnage and eight other post-Godhra riot cases, was directed by the Supreme Court in April last to examine a complaint against Modi and 62 others by Zakia Jaffery.

Zakia, whose husband and former MP Ehsan Jaffrey was killed during the 2002 riots in Gulbarg society along with 69 others, had alleged that Modi, his cabinet colleagues, police officials and senior bureaucrats aided and abetted post-Godhra riots of 2002.