Old Western Railway coach set ablaze to enact Godhra incident for Modi Biopic
Vadodara, Mar 4: An unused railway coach was Sunday set ablaze during the enactment of the 2002 Godhra train burning incident for a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The coach, which a Western Railway official called a "mock drill bogie", was set on fire though instructions to the documentary film crew was that it was to be returned after shooting in the same condition as it was provided.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Vadodara Railway Division spokesperson Khemraj Meena said, "The coach provided for the documentary was an unutilised mock drill bogie. It was given to the crew with the stipulation it would be returned in the same condition that it was given. We have charged money for its use."
The Godhra train burning scene was shot at WR's Pratap Nagar station and a set was built for it near the Coach Care Centre there, said the documentary's director Umesh Shukla.
The producers of the documentary had been given four-day permission for shooting on the broad and narrow gauge routes in Pratapnagar and Vishwamitri stations, Meena said.
Monday is the last day for shooting at WR stations, he added.
Jayraj Gadhvi, supervising executive of the shoot in Gujarat, said the coach was used to shoot the train burning scene from outside.
The enactment of the scenes that took place inside the coach during the 2002 Godhra incident will be shot at a set constructed for the purpose in Mumbai, Gandhvi added.
Fifty-nine 'karsevaks' were killed in the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002, triggering the worst communal riots in the history of Gujarat in which over 1,000 people, mostly belonging to the minority community, were killed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Gujarat chief minister at that time.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13; body of last missing person recovered
Jabalpur (PTI): The bodies of a five-year-old boy and his uncle were recovered from Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Sunday morning, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy to 13, police said.
The boat, around 20 years old and operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening.
"The bodies of Mayuram (5) and his uncle Kamraj (around 50), an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, were found floating and were fished out of the dam," Bargi Sub Divisional Officer of Police Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI over the phone.
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All 13 missing persons identified have now been accounted for, he said, adding the bodies were sent to a government hospital for postmortem.
Teams comprising around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, along with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, were involved in the search operation, the police said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the vessel, 28 were rescued after the incident, according to the police.
The CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat, though the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far, they said.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members. It also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
