Godhra list: Railway report shifts track

15 Mar 2003
Rajesh Ramachandran
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Two passengers certified as "survivors" of the Godhra carnage six months ago by the railways have now been declared "dead", while one "survivor" has since gone "missing". The report tabled in Parliament by the railway minister has only added to the mystery of the Sabarmati Express' ill-fated S-6 coach.

The Railways' report on the Godhra tragedy of February 27 contradicts another official document the Railways gave The Times of India on August 17 last year. In the earlier document, the Railways claimed that 32 passengers of S-6 were not even hurt ("travelled safely"), 7 were missing and 4 were dead. Sushila (25) and her daughter Pratibha (7) and Nanhkaunu (61) were among those who were listed as having travelled safely.

In the new report, the Railways claim that 28 passengers were not hurt, but have listed Sushila and Pratibha as "dead" on the basis of DNA tests" and Nanhkaunu as missing. Another passenger, Raju, who was shown to have travelled safely is now claimed to have cancelled his ticket. There is also no information in the new report about two passengers who were declared missing earlier.

B K Singh, who travelled in S-1, and Meena Kumari in S-2 were shown as missing earlier, but they are not referred to in the new report. In fact, Meena Kumari had the same address as that of two others in S-6 who have now been identified dead. After DNA testing, the number of dead from S-6 has gone up from four to 11. Yet, the majority, 48 out of the 59 dead, were not from S-6.