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Prime accused in Godhra massacre held

Police on Sunday arrested the main accused in the attack on the Sabarmati Express in Godhra, Haji Bilal Ismail Sujela, a municipal corporator.

With Bilal in custody, the total number of arrests in the case has reached 28.

The Government Railway Police and anti-terrorist squad picked him up from Godhra at around 1 am, Panchmahal Collector Jayanti S Ravi said.

"We picked him up when he was moving around in the Vohravad area of the violence-hit town," police sources said.

"Haji Bilal is named in the FIR as one of prime accused along with eight others," Superintendent of Police Raju Bhargav said.

The main charge against Bilal is "preventing the fire fighters from coming to control the blaze when the compartment of the ill-fated Sabarmati Express was burning", the sources said.

Bilal, kept in a "secret location", has so far not made any confessional statement, they said. "We are going to seek a minimum of seven day's police custody for him from the railway judicial magistrate," they added.

PTI

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