Ahmedabad, May 11: The Gujarat High Court, in its verdict in the Ode massacre case of 2002 Gujarat riots, acquitted 4 people while the lifetime imprisonment of 14 convicted will continue. The Ode massacre case of 2002 Gujarat riots is one of the deadliest incidences in which 23 people were burnt alive in Anand district during the communal riots in the state in 2002.

In its verdict, a division bench of the Gujarat High Court acquitted four and confirmed the sentence handed by a special trial court to 18 others. The court also confirmed the acquittal of 23 of the 47 accused.

The Gujarat High Court said that the lifetime imprisonment of 14 convicted will continue while life imprisonment of four convicted has been disposed. The Court also ordered 7 years imprisonment to 5 others convicted in the case. It must be noted that a special trial court had held 23 accused guilty in 2012 and as many as 18 were sentenced to life imprisonment and five others were handed seven years in jail.

In 2012, a special trial court had held 23 accused guilty. Out of the 23, 18 were convicted for life imprisonment while the remaining five had been sentenced to seven years. The division bench of Justices Akil Kureshi and B N Karia had concluded the hearing and reserved the judgment last month.

To recall, 23 Muslims were burnt alive in Ode on March 1, 2002, two days after the Sabarmati train carnage at Godhra railway station where 58 kar sevaks or religious volunteers were killed. Reports state that it is of the nine major riots cases which were handed over to the Supreme Court-appointed SIT for further investigation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 11, 2018 12:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).