31 convicted, 63 acquitted in Godhra train burning case

Feb 22 (PTI) 31 people were on Tuesday convicted and 63 others, including the main accused Maulvi Umarji, were acquitted by a special court here in the 2002 Godhra train burning incident that left 59 people dead and triggered violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat that had claimed the lives of over 1,200 people, mainly Muslims.
The sentencing would be pronounced on February 25
after arguments on the quantum of punishment by the Special
Court that accepted the theory of conspiracy behind the
burning of the coach of Sabarmati Express carrying kar sevaks
returning from Ayodhya in the northern Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh.
The court acquitted prime accused Maulana Umarji,
Godhra Town Municipality chief Mohammad Abdul Rahim Kalota,
Nannu Mian Chowdhary and Mohammad Ansari while other key
accused Haji Billa and Rajjak Kurkur were convicted.
"Special Court judge P R Patel has convicted 31
accused while acquitting 63 others," Public Prosecutor J M
Panchal said after the verdict inside the Sabarmati jail.
"On February 25, there will be a hearing on the point
of sentence, and after that quantum of punishment will be
pronounced," Panchal said.
"The conspiracy theory has been accepted by the
court," he said.
Scientific evidence, statement of witnesses,
circumstantial and documentary evidence placed on record
formed the basis of the judgement.
The trial conducted inside the Sabarmati Central Jail
here began in June 2009 with the framing of charges against
94 accused in the carnage, that had triggered widespread
communal riots in Gujarat.
The accused have been charged with criminal conspiracy
and murder in burning of the S-6 coach of the train on
February 27, 2002 near Godhra, about 125 km from here in which
59 people were killed.of this message and any attachments contained in it.