Court acquits 5 accused in post-Godhra riots for want of evidence

Ahmedabad: A city sessions court acquitted five individuals on Friday, accused of participating in rioting and arson during the post-Godhra riots in 2002 in the Dariapur-Kalupur area.

Police arrested five Hindu individuals – Atul Shah, Mahendra Nayak, Devendra Jhala, Devendra Nayak, and Bharat Gohil – in three different cases, and one Muslim person, Sajid Mansuri, in a fourth case in 2005. Mansuri had suffered severe burn injuries during the riots and was later arrested as an accused in the rioting after he was declared fit following a three-year-long physiotherapy. Six others had died during the riots, and Mansuri was hospitalized until August 2002.

The four cases were merged and tried together, but one of the accused, Atul Shah, passed away while the trial was pending. Twenty-one years later, the additional sessions judge M A Bhatti found no credible evidence of the accused’s involvement in the rioting and acquitted all five individuals.

The riots began on April 28, 2002, in various areas of the walled city and lasted for several days. Both sides engaged in stone-pelting and throwing of molotov cocktails in locations such as Shahiwadi Pol, Dhana Sutharni Pol, Soni no Khancho, and Mahajan Wado. DeshGujarat