After nearly fourteen years a special court in Ahmedabad has convicted 24 of the 66 accused in the 2002 Gulbarg Society massacre case. The court has also acquitted 36 of the accused in the case. This include Bipin Patel, a BJP councillor who was accused of being part of the mob which attacked the housing society. Of the 24 convicted in the case, 11 have been convicted of murder while 13 have been found guilty of other charges. Their sentences will be pronounced on June 6.

Trial in the case began in 2009, seven years after the massacre, and concluded last year in September.

The court had examined 338 witnesses in the case including the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who had been accused of conspiracy by the complainant Zakia Jafri.

What happened on 28 February 2002?

Gulbarg Society, a Muslim residential pocket of about 30 bungalows and 10 apartment blocks in Ahmedabad, had come under attack a day after the Sabarmati Express was torched in Godhra in 2002.