Sabarmati Express:1 more accused gets life imprisonment

A special court on Wednesday held one more accused in 2002 Sabarmati Express train carnage case guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The train carnage incident had triggered widespread riots in the state.

Yakub Pataliya, a resident of Godhra, was caught in January 2018 by the local police after absconding for 16 years.

64-year-old Pataliya was put to trial and a special court of H C Vora pronounced the judgment. Pataliya was held guilty and sentenced for life.

Pataliya was accused of leading a mob which torched the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express train at the Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002. Fifty-nine passengers, mostly karsevaks, returning from Ayodhya were charred to death.

Last year, the special court had convicted two accused, Farukh Bhana and Imran alias Sheru Batuk, for life after they were caught hiding for 14 years. They were tried separately.

In 2011, the special court had convicted 31 accused and acquitted 63. 11 of the convicted were sentenced to death while the rest were awarded life imprisonment.

In 2017, the Gujarat High Court, while deciding their appeal petitions, upheld the special court's judgment but commuted the death sentence of 11 to life imprisonment.