2002 Gujarat riots accused Samir Patel who burnt Muslims alive nabbed in London

Ahmedabad: An accused in a case related to 2002 post-Godhra riot at Ode village in Anand district, who had escaped to UK by jumping his bail, has been detained by London police and will be brought back by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) soon. “Samir Patel, an accused in Ode riot case, who absconded while on bail, has been detained by the London police,” Gandhinagar Local Crime Branch’s inspector and SIT member A K Parmar said.

“A red corner notice was issued against him after his location was traced to London. Three SIT officials, including I, will leave for London tomorrow to take him in custody. After completing deportation formalities, we will be able to bring him back by October 16-17,” Parmar said.

Two other accused in the case, Natu Patel and Rakesh Patel, are still at large. According to SIT officials, these two accused had left India on fake passports and are still untraceable. In the past, four other accused were deported from Austria, Singapore and other nations with the help of Interpol. 23  people – nine women, as many children and 5 men — of the Muslim community were burnt alive in a house in Pirwali Bhagol area of Ode village by a mob of over 1,500 people on March 1, 2002. The next day, four more persons were killed in another locality of the village.

On April 9, 2012, a special court convicted 23 persons. However, Samir Patel’s trial was not complete as he had gone absconding before that. This was one of the nine riots cases which were investigated by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT.