The Gujarat High Court on Friday acquitted Maya Kodnani but upheld the conviction of Bajrangi in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case in which 97 people were killed by a mob.
As the Gujarat High Court acquitted former BJP minister Maya Kodnani in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case, one of the victims expressed unhappiness and asked “if they are innocent, did we kill our children?” “Eight members of our family were killed before our eyes. If they are innocent, did we kill our children? Maya Kodnani has been declared innocent, two years later Babu Bajrangi will be acquitted,” ANI quoted the victim as telling the reporters.
Earlier in the day, the Gujarat High Court acquitted Kodnani but upheld the conviction of Bajrangi in the 2002 riot case in which 97 people were killed by a mob. The high court upheld conviction of 13 people including Bajrangi, and convicted another three for the first time, while acquitting 18 of the 32 people convicted by the trial court in 2012.
In 2002, Kodnani was a minister in Gujarat and the trial court had said she was the “kingpin” of the Naroda Patiya killings, one of the worst incidents of violence during the Gujarat riots, and sentenced her to 28 years in jail. Acquitting her, the high court said the statements made by witnesses regarding her role were contradictory. No prosecution witness mentioned that she talked to them at the relevant time, the high court noted.
The trial court had convicted her for a criminal conspiracy under section 120 (B) of the IPC, but the evidence didn’t establish the charge, the high court said.
Read | Who is Maya Kodnani?
On February 27, 2002, S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express train, carrying Kar Sevaks from Ayodhya, was set on fire in which 57 of them were burnt to death.
The Muslim locality of Naroda Patiya is less than 2 km from Naroda Gam. On February 28, 2002, it became the site of one of the worst massacres of the Gujarat riots — 97 Muslims were killed by mobs. Kodnani was accused of reaching the spot where a large mob had assembled, and of inflaming the situation. Eleven eyewitnesses claimed to have seen her getting off her car, surrounded by the mob. She allegedly addressed them and incited them to kill Muslims.
(With inputs from PTI)