Monday, February 7 2005 22:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a move that is likely to fuel further controversies, two NGOs today (Feb 7, 2005) released what they claimed is the 'full text' of the interim report of the Justice U C Banerjee Committee investigating the train fire in Godhra which sparked widespread riots in Gujarat nearly three years ago.

The NGOs Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD) and Human Rights Law Network (HRLW), while releasing the text at a press conference, also criticized the Justice Nanavati Commission for not coming out with a report on the incidents in Godhra in 2002 even though it had completed collecting evidence.

HRLW's Colin Gonsalves, who is also a Supreme Court advocate, said they had got the Justice Banerjee report from a "good source" but declined to divulge who it was.

"We believe people should have access to the full text of the report to form their own opinion which is why we decided to publicly release it when we got access to it," said Shabnam Hashmi of ANHAD.

The report, the conclusions of which were released by Justice Banerjee last month, had said the fire aboard coach S-6 in which 59 'kar sevaks' were killed on February 27, 2002, appeared to be "accidental" and the 'petrol theory' and 'miscreant activity theory' seemed "absurd".

In the "full text", Justice Banerjee reportedly severely indicted the then Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Vadodara who claimed that four doors of the coach had been closed from outside, saying his investigation was "slipshod" and "seemed to be based on hearsay only."