Among the accused acquitted on Thursday is former minister Dr Mayaben Kodnani who was earlier sentenced to 28-year jail term in the Naroda Patiya massacre case during the violence.
[Representational Photo : iStock]
A special court here on Thursday acquitted all the 69 accused in the Naroda Gam massacre case in which eleven people were killed during a bandh called by the Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to protest against the killing of 58 passengers of Sabarmati Express at Godhra on 27 February, 2002.
Among the 69 accused acquitted on Thursday is former minister Dr Mayaben Kodnani who was earlier sentenced to 28-year jail term in the Naroda Patiya massacre case during the same violent. She was later acquitted by the Gujarat High Court while all the other convicts are out on bail in the Naroda Patiya case.
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Specially designated court of Subhada Baxi was one of the nine fast track courts set up under orders of the Supreme Court to conduct speedy trials of the 2002 riot cases.
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The acquittal of the accused was greeted by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists gathered outside the court with chants of ‘Jai Sri Ram’.
The Special court had examined 182 prosecution witnesses during the two-decade long trial disrupted several times due to change of judges.
Prominent among the 69 acquitted is also Babu Bajrangi, a Bajrang Dal activist who boasted of cutting open a pregnant woman and tossing the fetus in air.
At least eleven Muslims were burnt to death in Naroda Gam by the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists during the bandh called after the Godhra train inferno in 2002.
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