Saturday, March 4 2006 15:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahmedabad: BJP today(Mar 4,2006) alleged that the Justice U C Banerjee report on Sabarmati Express train carnage which pointed out to an 'accidental fire' had political motives behind it and said the Minister who constituted the Committee should be 'punished.'

"There are political motivations behind the Banerjee report (which held that the fire on the train in which about 59 karsevaks were killed was accidental)," BJP President Rajnath Singh told reporters here.

"Such Ministers who were instrumental in forming the Committee should be punished," he remarked taking a dig at Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, who had ordered the formation of the Committee to probe into the causes of the fire on the train.

"When Bihar elections were announced, Justice Banerjee came out with an interim report on the incident and now when five states are going in for assembly elections, the final report of the Committee has been published," he said.

" When one judicial commission has been constituted to probe the incident (train carnage of February 27, 2002), then there is no legal provision to constitute another body to inquire into the same matter, Singh said.

He said that it was not (not) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who had "recommended" Justice Nanavati, but it was the Supreme Court which had suggested the Nanavati's name, who is currently the chairman of the Nanavati-Shah Commission probing the Godhra train carnage and its aftermath.

The findings of the Banerjee report is in complete contradiction to the preliminary report filed by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) regarding the incident, Singh said.