Tuesday, January 18 2005 11:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahmedabad: Casting a doubt on the Banerjee Committee's report on Godhra train carnage, that has said that the train blaze was an 'accidental fire', a senior official of the State Directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS) yesterday (Jan 17, 2005) said that approximately "60 litres of petrol" could have been used to torch the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express train.

Reacting to the U C Banerjee interim report that put aside any use of petrol in the incident, the official said, "The DFS has done its job scientifically and thoroughly. Moreover it is important to know the grounds of the technical observations made by the Commission."

Casting a doubt on the Commission's prompt report, the official said, "Is it possible to make all this finding in just two or three months?... How can there be any fire without any source?"

"The detailed report of the Banerjee Commission will have to be studied thoroughly before saying anymore on their observations," the official said.

Months after the train carnage, the Gujarat Government had given the DFS the task of reconstructing the carnage inside the train and they had simulated the incident using water in place of inflammables and had come to the conclusion that approximately 60 litres of petrol could have been used to torch the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express.