Gulberg massacre: Jafri's family demands strict punishment against accused

Hours before the verdict in the 2002 Gulberg society massacre case, the family members of slain former Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri on Monday demanded strict punishment against the accused while describing the massacre as a rarest of the rare case wherein the innocents were killed for no fault.

Looking forward to the judgement in this case, the slain Congress leader's wife Zakia Jafri told ANI that those guilty should realise how it feels when any blood relation gets killed.

"The innocents were brutally killed and their houses were burnt. They should get stringent punishment. It has been 15 years that I have been waiting for justice," Zakia said.

Dubbing the incident as 'gruesome', Jafri's son Tanveer said the peace-loving law abiding citizens of Gulberg society were looted, burnt and killed by hundreds of rioters.

"The matter is a question of provocation...They were provoked by some incidents and some political parties were behind them, which instigated them and they formed a mob and came and killed my father and my neighbours," Tanveer said, adding maximum punishment should be given to the culprits.

In Gujarat, a special Ahmedabad court is likely to pronounce the quantum of punishment in the 2002 post-Godhra Gulberg society massacre case today.

Special Court Judge P.B. Desai had earlier on Thursday convicted 24 of the 66 accused, including a VHP leader, in the Gulberg society case, which left 69 people including former Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri dead.

Of the 24 convicted, 11 have been charged with murder, while 13 others, including VHP leader Atul Vaidya, have been convicted for lesser offences.

The incident had taken place a day after S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt near Godhra station on February 27, 2002, during which 58 Karsevaks were killed. It is one of the nine cases of the 2002 Gujarat riots probed by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT.