Gulberg society massacre: Quantum of punishment likely today

Ahmedabad: A special sessions court is expected to pronounce the quantum of sentence on Thursday, for those convicted of the massacre of 69 people in the Gulberg Society during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Among those killed was septuagenarian former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri.

Special Sessions Court Judge PB Desai in his verdict, 14 years after the massacre, last week convicted 24 people, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Atul Vaidya but rejected the charge of conspiracy. Thirty six persons, including ruling Bharatiya Janata Party municipal corporator Bipin Patel, were acquitted.

The prosecution had sought nothing less than death sentence or jail term till death for all the convicts while the defence lawyers had contested it saying that the incident was spontaneous and there were enough provocations for it.

A mob of 400 people attacked the Gulberg society in the heart of Ahmedabad and killed the residents, including the former MP Jafri, during riots that ensued after S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express in which 'karsevaks' were travelling was burnt near Godhra train station on February 27, 2002 in which 58 people died.

It was one of the nine cases of the Gujarat riots probed by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT.