All accused in Naroda Gam riots that killed 11 acquitted

A special court in Ahmedabad on Thursday acquitted all the 69 accused in the Naroda Gam massacre where 11 people had been killed 21 years ago during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Judge Subhada Baxi acquitted all of them from all charges, in a verbal order. The detailed order wasn't immediately available. The acquitted include former BJP legislator and ex-Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani, Bajrang Dal activist Babu Bajrangi and former VHP leader Jaydeep Patel. Slogans of "Jai Shree Ram" filled the air as they came out of the courtroom Thursday evening.

Another 17 people who were also accused died while the trial was going on.


The Naroda Gam massacre was one of the nine major cases of the 2002 Gujarat riots which were handed over to a SIT constituted by the Supreme Court under former CBI director RK Raghavan. According to the case, 11 members of the Muslim community, including four women, had been burnt to death by a mob.

Earlier, Kodnani and Bajrangi were convicted by the special SIT court in the Naroda Patiya massacre case. While Kodnani was later acquitted by the HC, Bajrangi's conviction was upheld.

After coming out of the court, Kodnani told the media that truth has prevailed. The case was registered in 2009 and six judges have presided over the trial before the order came on Thursday.