After the Sabarmati Express carnage case of February 27, 2002 and the murder of Ex-Gujarat state Home Minister, Haren Pandya a year later in March 2003, the Ode rioting case has become the only case of the post-Godhra communal riots in the state wherein RCNs have been issued against the accused.

"The SIT team first procured arrest warrants for these six absconders and later got RCNs issue against them by the Interpol. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was the nodal agency in the process," an officer said on grounds of anonymity.

The six accused in the Ode case had taken toll of 27 lives on the morning of March 1, 2003, some of them who later jumped bail and are learnt to be hiding in Singapore, US and the UK. "A resident of Ode in Anand district, Dilip Babu Patel, who was in jail and had fled to UK after jumping his bail granted by a district court in Anand, is also included in the list," an official who did not wish to be identified, said.

Ode massacre is one of the ten most heinous cases of Gujarat riots that the SIT is further investigating. The final SIT report is expected to be submitted before the Apex court by February 15 this year.

The SIT had begun its further investigation into the case by undertaking a massive search operation at and around the village in May 2008. The sites where through excavations were done included a house at Piruwali Bhagol that was burnt down by rioters, a step-well in Ode main bazaar and a dry well located in Malav Bhagol area. "Even expert marine divers were roped in to help search for human remains in the step well," the sources added.

Several bone samples were collected, but in vain. A highly placed source in SIT said that scientific scrutiny of the bones first by the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS) in Gandhinagar and later also by a senior Human Anatomy professor in SSG hospital confirmed that they were animal bones.

"This finding has been appended to the SIT report in connection to the case, which was filed before a court in Umreth around December last year. The case is now with a sessions court in Anand," the source added.

While 24 persons were killed in the rioting case no 23/2002, three lost their lives in the case number 27/2002 of Ode police station that year. Of 44 persons accused in the case, one has died while another remains untraceable. Six of the keys accused are believed to be hiding in foreign countries. "We want to get custody for these six as soon as possible and are working on the legal process," a source in SIT said.