Six Sena men acquitted in '92 riots case

LET OFF: It is the first acquittal of Shiv Sena men in the 1992-93 Mumbai riots case.

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Mumbai: In a big blow to the prosecution, the special riots court on Friday acquitted six Shiv Sena men including Sena MLA Gajanan Kirtikar and Corporator Ravindra Waikar who were charged of unlawful assembly and instigating violence during the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai.

It is the first acquittal of Shiv Sena men in the riots case.

In all 20 persons were acquitted by Magistrate RC Bapat Sarkar for lack of evidence and the failure of the investigating officer's statement failed to prove the prosecution's case.

The other Sena men who were accused Nandkumar Kale, Raghunath Kadam, Shridhar Khade and Laltaprasad Singh. Corporator Waikar currently heads the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Standing Committee.

A complaint had been filed against the 20 persons at suburban Jogeshwari police station on December 7, 1992, in connection with two different cases for unlawful assembly and instigating violence.

The six were booked under section 39 of Bombay Police Act (unlawful assembly), various sections of the Criminal Procedure Code for instigating violence and 153 (a) of the Indian Penal Code for the conspiracy.

So far there have been only two convictions while around 40 persons have been acquitted in the on going trial of the 1992-93 riots.

CNN-IBN Correspondent Toral Varia reports that the Special Task Force (STF), which is the prosecuting agency in the riots case, was set up in January 2000 by the Democratic Front government.

According to the STF's brief, it was to prosecute those found guilty by the Srikrishna Commission. But even after presenting all the evidences and cross-examining witnesses, 40 people have been acquitted and only two held guilty in the riots case.

The Srikrishna Commission had found guilty many Shiv Sena workers of being involved in the riots that took place after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

But with more and more people being acquitted, it seems that the STF has failed to build up a strong case.