Godhra: A convict who was serving a life sentence in the 2002 Godhra train carnage case has been apprehended one year after he escaped parole.

Acting on a tip-off that Qasim Abdul Sattar Qazi was residing in Limkheda taluka, the parole furlough squad of Panchmahal Police reached the location on Saturday and arrested him. He has been handed over to Godhra B Division police station and will be taken to Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad to complete the remainder of his sentence. Notably, this is the second time Qazi has fled parole. In 2021, he had gone missing after being granted parole, but the police managed to locate him and take him into custody.

Qazi was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the case involving the setting of two coaches of Sabarmati Express on fire in Godhra on February 27, 2002, resulting in the death of 59 passengers, including women and children who were burnt alive. The event triggered communal riots in Gujarat.

In March 2011, a special court had given death sentences to 11 convicts and life imprisonment to 20 others. However, six years later, the Gujarat High Court commuted the death sentences of the 11 convicts to life imprisonment and upheld the life imprisonment for the remaining 20. DeshGujarat

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