Gujarat riots witness Nadeem Sayed stabbed to death

Congress worker and witness in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case, Nadeem Ahmed Sayed, was on Saturday stabbed to death by some unknown persons in Juhapura area in Ahmedabad, the police said.

The incident took place this morning when Sayed left his house around 7:00 hours, and the assailants stabbed him with sharp weapons several times and fled, they said. According to the police, Sayed was rushed to V S Hospital by his family members but was pronounced dead on arrival by the doctors.

The attackers are on the run and their identity was not yet known, the police said. The deceased was a witness in the Naroda Patiya case, where 95 persons were killed on February, 28, 2002 during the communal violence that erupted after the Godhra train burning incident. The court where the case trial was on, had recorded Sayed's statements a couple of months back.

Sources close to Sayed said he was also a police informer in some cases, and his murder had some connection with the clash between the slaughter house owners and police early this week where two policemen were injured and a police jeep was torched by a mob.

The police said a case has been registered against the unknown persons and further investigations was on.

Sayed was also a Right To Information activist and he had raised many RTI queries on the Godhra riots and related incidents.