Ahmedabad, Dec. 6: Nine of the 21 DNA samples taken from skeletal remains found in a mass grave have matched that of relatives of the Gujarat riot victims.

The other skeletons unearthed in Lunawada in east Gujarat’s Panchmahal district remain unidentified.

The disclosure was made today by the CBI while submitting the DNA report before the high court that had directed it to carry out tests on the skeletal remains.

Pandarwada, near Lunawada town, was the site of a massacre during post-Godhra riots on March 8, 2002. The mass grave was found on December 27, 2005, igniting charges that police had clandestinely buried the victims.

Aminabibi Rasool, who lost her son in the massacre, broke down today, saying she has lost hope of giving him a proper burial. Her DNA did not match with any of the 21 samples sent to the Hyderabad-based Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostic in January 2006.

Narrating how she was harassed by the police, Rasool, whose 24-year-old son was lynched in front of her eyes, said she would fight for justice till she gets the remains of her son.

Teesta Setalvad, the secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace, said the Gujarat government had received the DNA report in May. “It is really shocking that it took so long to give the report to the petitioner and survivors of the victims,” she added.

Setalvad, along with Rasool, had filed a petition in the court seeking the transfer of the case to the CBI.

“The unidentified skeletons have created a huge moral question for the Narendra Modi government. It is this government’s moral responsibility to tell where other victims of the Pandarwada massacre were buried,” Setalvad said.

Setalvad told the court that the survivors want further investigation by the CBI into the case of unidentified/missing victims. But state advocate-general Kamal Trivedi said the investigation is already on.

The matter will now be heard on December 8 when the court is expected to issue further orders on the missing persons.

Out of 413 missing persons — this is the official figure — 228 bodies have not been found till date. “It is the duty of the state government and the court to do something about it,” Setalvad said.