Former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani faced a murder charge in the chargesheet filed in the Naroda Gam case today by the Supreme Court-constituted Special Investigation Team(SIT) probing certain post-Godhra riot cases in the state afresh.
Kodnani, who was forced to resign and is now behind bars, is one of the prime accused in the Naroda Gam riots in which 11 persons were killed during the communal clashes in 2002.
"We have submitted a chargesheet against the accused in a local court here. The charges have been framed under IPC Sections 120 (B) for criminal conspiracy, 302 for murder, 307 for attempt to murder, 395 and 397 for loot and 143 to 147 for rioting," a senior SIT official told PTI.
The chargesheet was filed in the court of metropolitan magistrate G M Patel.
The official said all the accused including Kodnani and VHP leader Jaidip Patel were present in the court when the chargesheet was filed.
According to SIT sources, besides Kodnani and Patel the chargesheet was also filed against suspended police officer V S Gohil and one Pankaj Parikh in the case.
The chargesheet said Maya and Patel had led a mob during the 2002 riots which killed 11 people. Kodnani and Patel are behind bars while V S Gohil, who was a police inspector of Naroda in 2002, and Parikh are out on bail.
