Ahmedabad, April 20: The Gujarat High Court has acquitted Maya Kodnani in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case, in which 97 Muslims were massacred after Godhra riots. Babu Bajrangi's conviction has been upheld by the same court. In 2012, a special court for Special Investigation Team (SIT) cases had sentenced 32 people to life imprisonment. Among the convicts, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Maya Kodnani was there, she was awarded 28 years of imprisonment and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Apart from this, seven accused were given enhanced life imprisonment of 21 years and the remaining were given simple life imprisonment for 14 years.All the convicts had appealed against their conviction in the High Court.

Around 58 people lost their lives when the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express was torched at the Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002.

Following the incident, on February 28 the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal declared Gujarat Bandh. A total of 97 people were killed by rioters in Ahmedabad's Naroda Patiya area on this day.

(With inputs from ANI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 20, 2018 11:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).