Of the convicted, 21 are from Ahmedabad while one is from Mumbai; another 22 have been acquitted.
A designated Pota court in Ahmedabad convicted 22 people on Tuesday and acquitted an equal number in the ISI conspiracy case. Pota court judge Jyotsana Yagnik sentenced 18 of the 22 accused to 10 years imprisonment, while three got nine years and one three years’ jail term. Of the 22 people convicted in the case, 21 are from the city while one is from Mumbai.
This is the single largest conviction in a riots-related case since the post-Godhra carnage of 2002. The accused were convicted under sections 3(1)(a), 3(3) and 4 of Pota and section 120 (B) of the IPC.
According to the prosecution, the conspiracy was hatched with the ISI’s backing to avenge the killing of Muslims in the 2002 riots. The crime branch had arrested the 56 people between April and August 2003 and had recovered large quantities of arms and ammunition. The arrested people were accused of indulging in activities intended to foment communal tension, and plotting to kill Hindu leaders, including chief minister Narendra Modi.
However, Pota charges were lifted from 10 other accused after Gujarat high court upheld the Pota Review Committee’s recommendations and ordered a separate trial for them. HN Jhala, a well-known lawyer, was among those from whom terrorism charges were withdrawn. Finally, only 44 of the 56 accused were tried in the case.
The accused had allegedly taken the help of local youths and 17 people from Hyderabad to avenge the 2002 riots. Ironically, none of accused from Hyderabad was among those convicted in the case.
Seventeen of the 56 accused were charged with attending a terrorist camp near Islamabad where they were imparted training in the use of heavy weapons. In all, 202 witnesses were examined in the case.
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