A special court in Ahmedabad on Thursday, 20 April, acquitted all accused in the 2002 Naroda Gam riots case of Gujarat, reported news agency PTI.
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Former Gujarat minister and BJP leader Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi were among those 86 accused in the case. Out of 86 accused, 18 have died. In 2002 Naroda Gam massacre, 11 people were killed during the communal riots. Earlier, Special court judge had directed all the accused to remain present before the court on Thursday.
The accused were facing charges under various sections of IPC like section 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), and 153 (provocation for riots), among others.
The prosecution and defence examined 187 and 57 witnesses, respectively, during the trial that started in 2010 and went on for nearly 13 years with six judges successively presiding over the case.
Maya Kodnani, who was part of the cabinet while present Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison. However, Kodnani was later acquitted by the Gujarat High Court. This riot was one of the nine major communal riots in the year 2022 and the case was investigated by the SIT.
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