Gujarat leader Modi to be questioned over deadly riots

Mr Modi has always denied wrongdoing

The chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, has been summoned to appear next week before an inquiry into devastating riots in 2002.

Mr Modi faces questions over the murder of Congress MP Ehsan Jafri.

The Gujarat authorities were criticised for not doing enough to prevent the violence. Mr Modi denies wrongdoing.

More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the riots after 60 Hindus died in a train fire. The fire's cause was never clearly established.

Hindu groups allege the fire was started by Muslim protesters, but an earlier inquiry said the blaze was an accident.

In the violence which engulfed the state, Mr Jafri and dozens of others were killed in a residential complex in Ahmedabad known as the Gulbarg Society.

"Yes, we have summoned Mr Modi," the head of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) RK Raghavan told the BBC.

"On 21 March, we will ask him a few questions. Then we will send a report to the Supreme Court," he said.

The court set up the inquiry into the riots in March 2008.

Last year, the court ordered that the role of Mr Modi, a leading member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), should be investigated, particularly in connection with the murder of Mr Jafri and nine other specific cases.

The court was acting on a petition filed by Mr Jafri's widow.

Narendra Modi is one of more than 60 people who have been named as co-accused.

In the past the Supreme Court has criticised the government of Gujarat for failing to protect its Muslim citizens.

Mr Modi's supporters have always said he could have done little under the circumstances to prevent the violence.