Court acquits 28 accused in post-Godhra riots case

Those who have been acquitted include present chairman of the Kalol Nagrik Sahkari Bank, Govind Patel. The accused were already out on bail.

Arsonists take to the streets during the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Ahmedabad.

All 28 accused in a post-Godhra riots case have been acquitted by a Gandhinagar court, which cited lack of substantial evidence against them.

Those who have been acquitted include present chairman of the Kalol Nagrik Sahkari Bank, Govind Patel. The accused were already out on bail.

The 28 persons were accused of arson, rioting and damaging property of the minority community at Paliyad village in Kalol taluka of Gandhinagar district on February 28, 2002 — a day after the train burning incident at the Godhra railway station.

Dargah vandalised

Apart from damaging property, they were also accused of damaging some portion of a dargah in Paliyad during an attack by a mob of around 250 locals of that village, including the 28 accused named by the police in their FIR.

While pronouncing the judgment on January 31, Additional District Judge in Kalol B.D. Patel noted that not enough evidence against the accused was available. All witnesses had turned hostile claiming they were unable to identify the accused.