Godhra riot witness Nadeem Sayyed, a Congress worker, was killed by unidentified men in Juhapura, Ahmedabad’s predominant Muslim ghetto on Saturday morning. He had testified in court in the Naroda Patiya massacre case, where thousands Muslims were killed in 2002. Sayyed was also a police informer. He was also friendly with media persons. He had rallied for a Congress ticket in the last year’s civic body polls in Ahmedabad.
Sayyed had filed several PILs in the Gujarat high court over sanitation issues in the Johapura area. He had also filed numerous RTI applications seeking details of central funds to Gujarat government, lands acquired for industries, encroachment on government lands by the builders, civic amenities in his locality and personal assets of several politicians. Last year, he was brutally assaulted by extremist Hindu elements.
“After the 2002 riots, he emerged as a social activist, who would take on politicians and anti-social elements. Over the years, he also became politically ambitious and a controversial figure,” a police official in Ahmedabad told Indian media.
