Nanavati Commission complete hearing by Aug

Ahmedabad, May 12: The Nanavati-Shah Commission, probing the 2002 Gujarat riots, today decided to complete hearing of the victims' grievances by August.

The Commission had announced it would hear the grievances of riot-affected people from Banaskantha district on May 28, from Sabarkantha on May 29, Mehsana (June 8), Vadodara city (June 29 and 30), while riot-affected people from Ahmedabad could approach the Commission with their grievances from August 1 onwards.

Meanwhile, deposing before the Commission today, Rahmanbhai Soni from Asar village in Vadodara district said he had suffered a loss of over Rs one crore during the riots and had not received any compensation yet.

He told the Commission he had approached the State Bank of India for a loan to restart his business but it was refused.

The Commission asked him to submit in writing about the losses he had suffered, and attest copies of FIRs and other evidences in support of his claims.

Another riot-affected person, 75-year-old Sadiq Khan Pathan from Chhota Udaipur, told the Commission his land had been ''encroached'' upon by the government which had built a school there.

However, after verifying the documents, the Commission found that the land originally belonged to the government and an ownership issue was pending before the land tribunal.

Eleven people, hailing from various places like Anand, Kheda and Vadodara (rural) today appeared before the Commission and narrated their grievances.

UNI