A court in Halol town in Gujarat’s Panchmahal district has acquitted 22 people accused of killing 17 members of the minority community, including two children, for lack of evidence in the case stemming from the 2002 post-Godhra riots in the state.

According to the indictment, the victims were killed on February 28, 2002 and their bodies burned with the intent to destroy evidence.

Additional Sessions Judge Harsh Trivedi’s court on Tuesday acquitted all 22 accused, eight of whom died during the hearing of the case, defense lawyer Gopalsinh Solanki said.

“The court acquitted all the accused in the case of rioting and murder of 17 members of the minority community, including two children, at Delol village in the district for lack of evidence,” Solanki said.

Communal riots broke out in various parts of the state a day after a bogie of the Sabarmati Express was set on fire by a mob near Godhra town in Panchmahal district on 27 February 2002, killing 59 passengers, most of them ‘karsevaks’ returning from Ayodhya. .

An FIR (First Information Report) was filed under sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to murder and rioting following the violence in Delol village. Another police inspector filed the case again almost two years after the incident and arrested 22 people for their alleged involvement in the riots.

The prosecution has not been able to collect enough evidence against the accused persons and even the witnesses have turned hostile, Solanki said.

The defense attorney said the victims’ bodies were never found.

Police recovered the bones from an isolated spot on the riverbank, he said, but they were charred to such an extent that it was impossible to identify the victims.

“Due to lack of evidence, the court acquitted all 22 accused, eight of whom died during the trial,” he said.

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