The two-member Nanavati Commission, probing the post-Godhra riots, on Wednesday heard witnesses/victims from Rakhial and Odhav areas of Ahmedabad.
Deposing before the panel, a witness alleged that a Muslim mob hacked to death his friend hardly 100 metres away from a police post, and later danced and urinated on his corpse.
Prakash Rajput, an auto-rickshaw driver from Rakhial, told Justice G T Nanavati (retd) and Justice K G Shah (retd) that a person named Asghar had led the mob.
Rajput said the mob slowly dispersed on its own. He and some others, who had taken shelter in the empty police post, picked up the corpse of their friend, Vijay, and took it to Shardaben Hospital in Saraspur.
He also alleged that despite having registered a case, police had not recorded his account of the incident till date.
Another witness, Vishnu Patel, a resident of Rakhial, said on the morning of February 28, 2002, he heard announcements from loudspeakers in Kalandari mosque, which said, "Kafeero ko kaat dalo". Later, a mob of nearly 2,000 Muslims emerged from the mosque and began vandalising the nearby Meldi Mata temple.
Patel alleged that some Muslims began throwing stones and bottles at Hindus from the rooftop of Naaz Radio building, while others opened fire at Hindus from adjoining lanes.
The police opened fire and used teargas shells to quell the rioting mob, Patel said.
Around 60 children of two schools in Odhav told the commission that Muslims of their locality had threatened them on numerous occasions.
Deepak Pandya and Deepak Parmar, senior students of Pravin High School and Dwarkesh Hindi School, representing 60 of their classmates, said the Muslims often entered school premises and beat them up. They told the commission that they should be given protection.
Ayub Khan Pathan, a resident of Aman Chowk in Rakhial, said on February 28 he saw Hindu mobs indulging in arson and loot and burning shops. He said a policeman allegedly directed them towards a Muslim locality.
Muzammil Hussain Nizamuddin Sheikh, a resident of Rakhial, told the commission that on March 1 heavy stone-pelting occurred and three police jeeps arrived and began firing only towards Aman Chowk, the Muslim belt in the area, even as Hindu mobs looted their houses.
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