Gujarat court acquits five persons in post-Godhra riots in Ahmedabad

The court has said that during the incident the Hindus and Muslims were attacking each other with common intention of harming one another

A city civil and sessions court acquitted five persons accused of rioting during the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Ahmedabad. The court said that although the prosecution could establish that six persons lost their lives in the communal riots, the evidence was not enough to clearly establish the specific role of the accused.

The additional sessions judge Mustaq A Bhatti pronounced the order on Friday acquitting Atul Shah, Mahendra Nayak, Devendra Jhala, Devendra Nayak and Bharat Gohil and Saji Mansuri for not having sufficient evidence against them. The trial against Atul Shah was abated due to his death during the pendency.

The court has said that during the incident the Hindus and Muslims were attacking each other with the common intention of harming one another. To control them, the police resorted to firing and crude bombs were used because of which seven Muslims were injured including one of the accused Sajid Mansuri. Mansuri survived while six others died in the hospital during treatment. Police arrested him after he recovered.

The order notes, "evidence and statement of witnesses prove that such an unfortunate incident had occurred. However, it is not the case of the prosecution that the accused were arrested from the spot."

Quoting witnesses, the order says that the accused were caught at different times and accordingly separate chargesheets were filed. The order stated, "the prosecution should have brought the role of the accused on record with clear evidence. However, the evidence presented in the court doesn't clearly attribute to the specific role of the accused whether they were part of the mob or not. No policeman who arrested these accused were examined and after their arrest, the identity parade of the accused was also not conducted. Even in the court none of the witnesses could identify the accused."

The FIR was registered with Kalupur police station in the walled city on March 29, 2002, for rioting. The case details state that the mobs of Hindu and Muslim communities were attacking each other despite the curfew. Police had resorted to firing in which one of the accused Devendra Nayak sustained injuries.