Tuesday, February 8 2005 10:46 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Alleging that the accused arrested for torching Sabarmati express at Godhra in 2002 were wrongly implicated, the India Centre for Human Rights and Law (ICHRL) yesterday (Feb 07, 2005) demanded that they should be immediately released.

"Those questioning the credibility of the interim report of Justice U C Banerjee were politically motivated," ICHRL's Prof Ram told reporters in Mumbai.

"What is needed is to evaluate the interim report on its merit," he said since it was just an interim report, more time should be given to committee to come out with the final report.

He said that the report had negated the theory that 140 litres of petrol had been poured from outside on the S6 coach of Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002.

"Even if there are any loopholes in the report there was a necessity to look into its technicality," he said.

Ram further said that if there was so much debate on the report, which had incorporated several scientific tests, how could politicians come up with the theory that it was a preplanned terrorist attack within 30 minutes.

"The theory of terrorist attack was floated to gain political mileage," he alleged.