Post-Godhra violence: 10-year jail for 12 who attacked cops in Kodinar

A local court in Una (Junagadh district) has sentenced 12 people to 10 years rigorous imprisonment on charges of rioting and attacking police personnel on November 13, 2003.

“We argued before the court that the accused should be punished as they had indulged in attacks on policemen and this is a serious offence,” said Mohan Gohil, additional public prosecutor.

The case is related to the communal clash in the coastal town of Kodinar where a mob of 500 to 600 people belonging to two different communities had attacked policemen on duty on November 13, 2003.

On that day a group of Hindus had given a bandh call demanding the arrest of the accused of the Muslim community who had set fire the previous day to a shop of one Purshottambhai.
The incident happened when a mob of Hindus went to close the shops of Muslims in the town. When the situation threatened to go out of control, the police reached the spot to stop any untoward incident.

However, the mob which consisted of members of both communities, attacked the policemen and pelted them with stones and glass bottles. During the attack, two policemen, PV Basia and Suleman Ganibhai, were injured. The police had opened fire to disperse the mob. Ten of the accused were caught from the spot.