A special trial court on Thursday acquitted all 67 Accused, including former Gujarat Minister Maya Kodnani, former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and former VHP leader Jaidip Patel, in the Naroda Gam Massacre case, in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Eleven people were killed in the riots that broke out in the Naroda Gam area of Ahmedabad, during a bandh called to protest the Godhra train burning a day before.

A total of 86 accused were named in the First Information Report and chargesheet, out of which 18 died during the pendency of the trial, while one was discharged, leaving 67 to face the protracted trial that had begun in 2009 and the verdict came more than 21 years after the massacre.

On Thursday, of the 67 accused, 65 were present in the courtroom. 

The accused were facing charges under Indian Penal Code sections 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.

Maya Kodnani was made an accused in 2008 in the Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gam massacre cases by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the riots. In August 2012, a special SIT court sentenced her to 28 years in jail for her role in the Naroda Patiya massacre case.

The Gujarat high court, however, acquitted the former BJP minister in April 2018 overturning the trial court’s verdict.