AHMEDABAD: In an interesting development in the Lunawada mass burial site, the local police on Monday filed an FIR against twelve persons for illegally exhuming bodies from what it termed as the “official” burial ground of the municipality.
An arrest warrant for the twelve has been issued but no one has been held as yet. The site located on the banks of river Panam where mortal remains of 2002 Godhra riot victims have been unearthed, is now being guarded by team of ten local police officials and an executive magistrate.
The FIR was filed by the Lunawada Sanitary Inspector on the grounds that the municipal authorities claimed that the bodies have been exhumed from their “official” burial site for unclaimed bodies. The claim is being contested by the NGO supporting the victims’ kin - Citizens for Justice and Peace.
The FIR also includes Citizens for Justice and Peace coordinator Raees Khan, who had assisted the locals in digging on December 27, 2005. The other 11 accused are the local tribals and victims’ relatives who had initiated the digging last week.
A team of six people from AIIMS, Delhi visited the site on Monday, but refused to talk to the media. They insisted on the CBI’s presence when the bodies are excavated.
A team from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Gandhinagar is expected to visit Lunawada on Tuesday to collect blood and hair samples of the victims’ relatives for DNA testing of the remains.
