Verdict on Gulbarg Society massacre today

Ahmedabad, June 2: A special SIT court is likely to pronounce its verdict today on the post-Godra riots in 2002 where 69 people were killed in Gulbarg Society, including Congress MP Ehsan Jafri. Special Court judge P B Desai will deliver the judgement 8 months after the trial concluded on September 22, 2015. Meanwhile, Ahmedabad has been put on high alert.

The Supreme Court, which is monitoring the case, has directed the SIT court to give its verdict by May 31. There are in all 66 accused named by the SIT in the murder case of the 69 people. While 9 have been arrested and are serving jail since 14 years, the rest are out on bail.

The trials were conducted by 4 judges and five have died during the trial. Close to 338 witnesses were produced and is the only one where the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had been questioned.

One of the accused, Bipin Patel is a sitting BJP corporator from Asarva seat. He was also the corporator in 2002 and won the elections for the fourth consecutive time last year.

Last week, the court turned down pleas by two accused- Narayan Tank and Babu Rathod- to undergo narco analysis and brain mapping tests to prove their innocence. During the trial, the riot victim's lawyer said that the attacks were pre-planned to erase the minority community members of the Gulbarg Society.

The defence, however, stated that the mob resorted to violence only when Congress MP Ehsan Jafri fired several rounds on them.

The Gulbarg Society case is the eighth of the nine cases of the 2002 Gujarat riots probed by the Supreme Court appointed SIT.

A HIndu mob is said to have attacked a muslim neighborhood Gulbarg Society in Chamanpura, Ahmedabad on 28 February 2002 and gutted houses and also burnt many alive. This incident happened a day after the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt near Godra train station, which killed 58 'karsevaks'.

OneIndia News