Ode Massacre case: 18 sentenced to life term, seven to seven-year jail

An Ahmedabad court, which found 23 accused guilty and 23 accused innocent in Ode village Massacre case 2002, today sentenced its final verdict in which it pronounced life term imprisonment to 18 while five have been sentenced seven year jail.

This is the third decision came in the line of Godhra train carnage and Gujarat Communal riots 2002.

The first one was Godhra train carnage and the second was Sardarpura massacre.

The district court on April 09 has convicted 23 out of 47 accused and acquitted 23 while one accused has been dead during the trial of the case.

More than 150 witnesses were examined in which 35 witness became hostile while over 170 documentary evidences were placed before the court. The trial had begun at the end of 2009.

According to reports, an agitated mob of 2000 people collected at Pirawali Bhagol of Ode village in Anand district and set fire in a house where 23 persons belonging to minority communities had taken shelter.

--With ANI Inputs--