2002 Gulbarg Society case verdict: 24 accused convicted, 36 acquitted

A special court in Ahmedabad on Thursday pronounced its verdict in the Gulbarg Society massacre case, 14 years after 69 people were killed by a mob. 24 people have been convicted, while 36 others have been acquitted in the case. The trial ran for more than six hours during which total 338 witnesses were testified. However, the conspiracy charge against all has been dropped.

Out of the 24 convicted in the case, 11 have been convicted for murder and 13 have been found guilty of other charges. The court will pronounce the sentence on June 6.

Special Court Judge P B Desai also acquitted 36 others including sitting BJP corporator Bipin Patel. While the charge under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC was upheld conspiracy charge under Section 120 B was dropped against all the accused.Out of the 66 accused, six had died during the trial. Of the 24 convicted today, 11 have been charged with murder, while 13 others including VHP leader Atul Vaidya have been convicted for lesser offences. The court said that there is no evidence of criminal conspiracy in the case while dropping section 120 B of the IPC.

The Gulberg Society case shook the nation when a mob of 400 people set about attacking the society in the heart of Ahmedabad and killed the residents including the former MP Jafri. It was one of the nine cases of the 2002 Gujarat riots probed by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT.

The incident had taken place a day after S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt near Godhra train station on February 27, 2002 during which 58 ‘karsevaks’ were killed.

(With PTI inputs)