Indian court acquits Modi ally Kodnani
An Indian court yesterday acquitted an ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was the most senior figure convicted over the deadly 2002 Gujarat religious riots.
Maya Kodnani, who served as a minister in the Gujarat state government then led by Modi, was sentenced to 28 years in jail in 2012 over the killing of 97 Muslims in the worst massacre during the riots.
Kodnani, 63, appealed to the Gujarat High Court which gave her the benefit of the doubt but upheld the convictions of 12 other accused, including Babu Bajrangi, a firebrand leader of a Hindu right-wing outfit.
"The court observed that the statement of 11 witnesses against Kodnani were inconsistent, hence she was given benefit of doubt," said special public prosecutor RC Kodekar.
Kodnani, who served as women and child development minister in Modi's state government from 2007-2009, was accused by the sentencing judge in 2012 of being "the kingpin of the religious riots".
She was found guilty of murder and other charges including inciting religious hatred over the massacre that occurred in the Naroda Patiya suburb of Ahmedabad.
The Gujarat riots left more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead in some of India's worst inter-faith violence since independence in 1947. The rioting began after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire for which 31 Muslims were convicted in 2011.
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