AHMEDABAD, Dec 27: Villagers claimed a mass grave had been uncovered for victims of the 2002 communal killings in Gujarat, an official said on Tuesday. “Eight human skulls were unearthed. The villagers believe that these are mortal remains of the 26 people who had been killed in a mob attack here in 2002,” said social worker Sohail Topiwala, a member of the team that discovered the site in Gujarat’s Panchmahals district. He said he expected his team would find more bodies.

More than 2,000 people — mostly Muslims — were killed in the riots sparked after a mob allegedly torched a train carriage in Godhra town, killing 59 pilgrims in 2002. Officials later found the fire was an accident.

Human rights groups accuse the state government, controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, of turning a blind eye to the riots.

Villagers from Panderwara, where the grave was found, claimed police did not hand over the bodies of their relatives after the riots, instead swiftly burying them.

Mr Topiwala said they unearthed the skulls and clothing after digging for two days and investigating for more than two years those still missing from the riots.. —AFP