The Gulbarg Society massacre case has taken a new turn as the Supreme-Court-appointed Special Investigation Team(SIT) report has claimed that Congress leader Ehsaan Jafri, who was killed by a riotous mob, could have provoked the rioters by firing on them.
According to the recently submitted SIT report, the immediate provocation for the mob to attack Gulbarg Society following the Godhra carnage on Feb 28, 2002, could have been firing by the former Congress MP. “In his interview the CM has clearly referred to Jafri’s firing as ‘action’ and the massacre as ‘reaction’. It may be clarified here that in case late Ehsaan Jafri fired at the mob, this could be an immediate provocation to the mob, which had assembled there to take revenge of Godhra incidents from Muslims,” the report says. The SIT has relied on the deposition of a television journalist who had interviewed the chief minister on March 1. The journalist reportedly quoted Modi as saying that Jafri had fired first, which provoked the riotous mob.