New Delhi: A special court in Ahmedabad on Thursday acquitted all the accused, including former minister Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, of murder, criminal conspiracy and rioting in the Naroda Gam riots that took place 21 years ago after the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Eleven members of the Muslim community were killed in communal violence in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Gam area on 28 February 2002, during a bandh called to protest the Godhra train burning a day earlier. sixty-nine passengers, mostly “car valetThe Sabarmati Express returning from Ayodhya was killed in arson.
The accused were tried for murder, attempt to murder, unlawful assembly, rioting, rioting armed with deadly weapons, criminal conspiracy, and rioting, among others.
There were a total of 86 accused in the case, but 18 died during the trial. The court of Special Investigation Agency (SIT) cases Special Judge SK Bakshi pronounced the verdict against 68 accused on Thursday.
The prosecution and defense examined 187 and 57 witnesses, respectively, in the trial that began in 2010 and lasted nearly 13 years with six judges presiding over the case.
In September 2017, senior BJP leader Amit Shah appeared as a defense witness for Kodnani. Kodnani, 67, requested the court to summon Shah to prove that she was present at the Gujarat Assembly and later at Sola Civil Hospital and not at Naroda Gam where the massacre took place.
The evidence presented by the prosecution included a video of a sting operation conducted by journalist Ashish Khaitan as well as call details of Kodnani, Bajrangi and others during that period.
Kodnani, who was a minister in the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government, was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison in the Naroda Patiya riot case, where 97 people were killed. He was later discharged by the Gujarat High Court.
In the present case, he was charged with criminal conspiracy besides rioting, murder and attempt to murder.
When the trial began, SH Vora was the presiding judge, but he was later promoted to the Gujarat High Court. His successors Jyotsna Yagnik, KK Bhatt and PB Desai retired during the trial. After this, the coming Special Judge MK Dave was transferred.
Special prosecutor Suresh Shah told PTI, “The trial (statement of witnesses) ended about four years ago. The prosecution’s arguments were over and the defense was still making its arguments when the then Special Judge PB Desai retired. Therefore, fresh arguments were started before Judge Dave and later before Judge Bakshi, which delayed the proceedings.
The massacre at Naroda Gam was one of the nine major communal riots cases of 2002 investigated by SITs and heard by special courts.
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