'Then Who Killed Them?': Pawar On Acquittal Of All Accused In Naroda Gam Case

Questioning the acquittal of all accused in Naroda Gam Massacre Case, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar alleged misuse of power by the people who are in the government.

New Delhi: A day after a Gujarat court acquitted all the accused of the Naroda Gam case in which 11 people were killed from the minority community, Nationalist Congress chief Sharad Pawar on Friday questioned, "Then who killed those people?" "A few years ago there were mass murders of minorities in Gujarat. Some leaders` close aides were involved and the case was going on for so many days. Yesterday a court acquitted all the accused, So who killed them? How they were killed?" Pawar said. He said that misuse of power has been done by the people who are in the government. Earlier on Thursday, a special court in Ahmedabad acquitted all 68 accused, including BJP MLA Maya Kodnani, in the 2002 post-Godhra riots, Naroda Gam case.

Eleven persons were killed in communal violence in the Naroda Gam area of Ahmedabad city on February 28, 2002, during a `bandh` called to protest the Godhra train burning, in which 58 passengers, returning from Ayodhya, were killed.

Along with Kodnani, other prominent accused involved former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Jaydeep Patel. On April 16, the court of principal sessions Judge SK Baxi had fixed April 20 as the date for the verdict in the case and had also directed the accused to remain present in the court.

Notably, all the accused in the case are currently out on bail. Out of the total 86 accused in the case, 18 died in the intervening period. Around 182 prosecution witnesses were examined during the trial.

Apart from rioting and murder, Kodnani, 67, was also charged with criminal conspiracy and attempted murder in the Naroda Gam case.It is pertinent to note that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also appeared as a defence witness for Kodnani in September 2017.