Ahmedabad: A special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court on July 7 rejected the bail plea of Maulana Hussain Umarji -- the prime conspirator and main accused in the Godhra train carnage.

Umarji, a local religious leader and cleric in Godhra was arrested by the Special Investigating Team probing the carnage in February 2003 from his house in Signal Falia locality in Godhra town.

Rejecting Umarji's bail petition, the special POTA judge Sonia Gokani ruled that the "incident is serious one and it had wide repercussions across the state".

"Moreover, bail cannot be granted to petitioner at present, as many of the accused persons are still absconding," Gokani ruled.

According to sources, nearly 53 accused are still absconding in the case, while some have been granted bail.

The Gujarat High Court had recently granted bail to four accused, even as it kept its own order of their release from judicial custody under suspension for four weeks to allow the state government to approach the Supreme Court.

Earlier, the POTA court had also "discharged" another accused Sayed Abdul Sattar Kala after the investigating agency failed to collect any evidence of his involvement in the train carnage and submitted a report under section 169 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

Fifty nine 'Ram sevaks', mostly women and children were charred to death when a mob of miscreants set ablaze the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express near Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002, sparking widespread communal riots across the state.

PTI