MORE than two decades after 11 Muslim community members were killed in the postGodhra riots in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Gam, a special court here on Thursday acquitted all the 67 accused in the case, including former Gujarat Minister Maya Kodnani and ex-Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi. The Ahmedabad-based court of S K Baxi, special judge for Special Investigation Team (SIT) cases, acquitted all the accused in one of the worst massacres witnessed during the Statewide riots triggered by the S a b a r m a t i train carnage on February 27, 2002.

 

T h o s e a c q u i t t e d include former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Minister in the Gujarat Government Kodnani (67), former VHP leader Jaydeep Patel and exBajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi. There were a total of 86 accused in the case, of which 18 died during the pendency of the trial, while one was discharged by the court. A d v o c a t e S h a h s h a d Pathan, who represented the victims, said the acquittal order will be challenged in the Gujarat High Court.