"I went to see the S-6 compartment and the exact place where it was halted before it was burnt down. "
"The first thing I noticed was that the compartment's steps were intact. How is it possible if a crowd had burnt it from outside? The steps would be burnt first if people were torching it from outside."
"I started staying in Godhra. I started moving around in Signal Falia and other Muslim ghettos. Slowly, I collected information. I got the information from local people that this incident was a pre-planned conspiracy."
"February 26, 2002, they called a meeting at the Aman guesthouse near the railway station. They were told that large numbers of karsevaks were coming back from Ayodhya."
"Haji Bilal and Farooq Bhana said at the meeting that they had just returned after meeting Maulvi Hussain Omerjee, who had instructed to torch the Sabarmati Express's S-6 coach."
"The train was halted by one of the accused by pulling the (emergency stop) chain. Razaak Kurkur and Paanwala had given some boys the duty to board the train. As per their instructions, these boys boarded the train by cutting the vestibule and entered the compartment to pour the petrol and set it on fire."
"A lot of people are arguing that the burning of coach S-6 was just an accident; that the crowd had gathered just like that. At 7 am in the morning, a crowd doesn't assemble just like that. It was pre-planned. Around 7.43 am, when the train came, people were instructed through a microphone to reach the station. There were provocative slogans: 'Kill Hindus, long live Pakistan!"
"I want to ask a few questions to people who debunk our theory. If it was an accident, even then you need inflammable material to burn a train, right? If it was a stove with kerosene that triggered the fire, please tell me how much kerosene can one stove carry? It can store just about a litre of liquid."
"Behra, whose confession proved important, is almost uneducated. He was arrested for petty crimes before. He had looted Sabarmati passengers. We have confiscated a few passengers' items from him. We showed him an album of the victims of Godhra. We told him to look at a child's dead body. I was totally shattered to see the body. Imagine what pain that child must have gone through when petrol was poured on his body and he was burnt alive?
I told Behra: 'You have children too.' He thought for some time. He stared at me for a long time. Then he said, 'Don't say such things to me. My children should not be touched. I wish them well.'
After that, he started opening up. He kept saying, 'I want to address Allah's darbar.'"
"Godhra has a communal history. People here are still talking about historical events. Once upon a time Champaner near Godhra was the capital of Gujarat. It was looted by (then king of Gujarat) Mohammad Begda. His army was kept in Godhra, who harassed local Hindus and looted them. In the jungles of this area, they converted tribals and spread Islam amongst them. Those converts dominate Signal Falia."
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Above are the Excerpts from the Exclusive Interview given to rediff.com’s Sheela Bhatt by Noel ParmarNoel Parmar was the investigating officer in the Godhra case. He retired in 2009 after 43 years of service in the Gujarat police. He was known to be a tough officer throughout his career. He has been constantly targeted by the civil society groups fighting for the accused in the Godhra case. Parmar, 64, was given an extension in service even after retirement because nobody knows the case as well as him
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