PTI

Godhra, July 3

A court docket right here has sentenced to life imprisonment an accused within the case of Godhra practice carnage in 2002 through which 59 ‘karsevaks’ had been killed, which had triggered worst riots within the historical past of Gujarat.

A court docket of an Additional Sessions decide at Godhra in Gujarat’s Panchmahal district on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to the accused, Rafik Bhatuk, who was arrested in February 2021.

The trial towards him within the case started after his arrest final 12 months.

He was accused of being concerned within the case of torching of a practice coming back from Ayodhya with ‘karsevaks’ on February 27, 2002, killing 59 of them. This had led to communal riots within the state, through which over 1,200 individuals, largely from a minority group, had been killed.

Bhatuk is the thirty fifth accused to be held responsible by the court docket within the case to this point, particular public prosecutor RC Kodekar stated. “The judge wished not to be named,” he stated.

A Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Panchmahal police nabbed Bhatuk from a locality in Godhra city in February final 12 months. He had escaped from Godhra after being named an accused within the case and stayed in numerous cities earlier than returning right here.

Earlier, a particular SIT court docket had convicted 31 individuals within the case on March 1, 2011. Out of them, 11 had been sentenced to dying, whereas 20 had been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Gujarat High Court had in October 2017 commuted the dying sentence of 11 convicts to life imprisonment, whereas upholding the punishment awarded by the particular SIT court docket to twenty others.

Later, three extra individuals had been sentenced to life imprisonment within the case on two events.