Ahmedabad: Zakia Jafri, widow of former Lok Sabha MP Eshan Jafri, on August 29 said a mob had allegedly attacked their Gulberg society house and killed her husband inspite of then Police Commissioner P C Pande assuring police protection.

Jafri told the probe panel comprising Justice (retd) G T Nanavati and Justice (retd) K G Shah that on getting information that riots had erupted in Chamapnpura area, her husband had talked to Pande in the morning over telephone and briefed him of the tense situation.

"After a while we got to know that Commissioner Pande had come upto the gate of Gulberg society even as rioting was going on and assured that more police force would arrive soon. He left after this and my husband came back and told us to rest assured," she told the Commission.

The riot victim said violent mobs that were torching houses in the area broke open their Gulberg society gate lock and barged into their bungalow No 19.

"At that point I had run upstairs but my husband was still down. The rioters had begun breaking everything setting the house on fire. I got to know that later he was dragged to the middle of the main road, chopped to pieces with swords and then thrown on a fire that was lit out of looted property," she said in a choked voice.

Jafri said after being holed for close to five hours and unable to resist the heat of the flames from the ground floor, she and other Muslim women came down to find several corpses all over their house and porch.

PTI