Communal riots had broken out in different parts of the state a day after a bogie of the Sabarmati Express was torched by a mob near Godhra town in Panchmahal district on February 27, 2002, killing 59 passengers, most of them 'karsevaks' returning from Ayodhya. An FIR (first information report) was lodged under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to murder and rioting after the violence in Delol village.
