Source: India Today
GODHRA, INDIA, March 25, 2002: On the night of March 3, as a grim Godhra resigned itself to an extended curfew, a crack team of the state’s anti-terrorist squad was closing in on some citizens. Having made vital arrests in Godhra’s Polan Bazar in connection with the burning of the Sabarmati Express, it was waiting for information from a reconnaissance group that had visited Mithikhan Mohalla, Polan’s thickly populated and predominantly Muslim section. The Mithikhan raid netted Mohammed Husain Abdul Rahim Kalota, president of the Godhra Municipal Council. With two other councillors–Abdul Rehman Abdul Majid Dhantia alias Kan-katta and Salim Abdul Gaffer Shaikh-arrested earlier in the day, the investigation was making brisk progress. The interrogation of Kalota confirmed hidden “dubious outsiders” in Polan Bazar a few days before the train massacre. It is believed that SIMI activists helped in the Sabarmati Express operation, according to this report, and that the intent was to burn the entire train.